BBBiilKilllli 



1 



m. 



Sy I ■ P^BJCY. m ^MApAN^ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
Chap. < opj right No. 



^.MJ.$ 



UNITED STATES <)i AMERICA. 



THE 



Peril 9LJHE Republic 



OP THE 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



BY 

PERCY T. MAGAN, PH. B. 



// we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could 
better judge what to do, and how to do it— LINCOLN 



Chicago new York Toronto 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS OF EVANGELICAL LITERATURE 

L 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 

LJbr&n <■*% 

Register cf Copy,' 



5 J 048 

Copyrighted 1899, by Percy T. Magan. 



8EC0ND COPY, 



cO 



PREFACE. 



About ten years ago I became deeply interested in those prophe- 
cies of the Bible which relate to the history of this world. As on 
the sacred page I read and pondered over the outlines of the great 
events of earth, both past and yet to be, I determined to make a 
thorough study of human histories, for the double purpose of satis- 
fying myself as to the truthfulness of the Bible concerning what had 
already transpired, and that through these things I might better 
understand what was yet to come. 

In 1891 my friend and fellow worker, Alonzo T. Jones, wrote 
his- "Two Kepublics, or Rome and the United States of America." 
It was my privilege to read this remarkable work in the proof; and, 
from the general field of the annals of mankind, my attention was 
specifically turned to the prophetical and philosophical history of 
the Republic of Rome and the Republic of the United States. 
During the past nine years, having occupied the chair of history in 
the College at this place, my duties have accorded me abundant 
opportunity to pursue my cherished theme. 

With me the study of the great events of the present has been with 
the one desire that, guided by the Word of God, I might, through 
the things transpiring around me, read correctly the events which 
are yet to take place. The matters touched upon in this little book 
were long ago recorded in sacred, prophetic Writ. They vitally 
concern the welfare and peace of the United States, and are inti- 
mately connected with the deeds which will ultimately bring to a 
close the long and tragic history of the world. We are apt to 
believe that we live in better times than those with which others 
have been favored; but those wonderful words of James Russell 
Lowell apply just as much to the present time as to any time in past 
history : — 

"Careless seems the great Avenger: history's pages but record 
One death-grapple in the darkness 'twixt false systems and the Word. 
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne; 
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown 
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own." 



4 PREFACE. 

Firmly believing that it is my duty as a minister of the gospel, 

ambassador of Jesus Christ, to warn men and women what 

a ill be, I have written that which follows, that in life 

and spirit they may transfer their allegiance and citizenship from 

the kingdoms of this world to the kingdom of our Lord and of 

blch kingdom, according to the seer, shall never be 

shall Btand forever and ever. 

In writing this little work I have not sought to bring hidden 

to light, but rather to make plain the meaning, philosophy, 

facts already well known, generally accredited, and 

cknowledged by thinking men. I have drawn freely 

from the 1 speeches of others. Many times I have quoted 

their words rather than to write my own. I have done this for the 

in that their thoughts were my thoughts, and that in giving 

their language I could at once give their ideas and my own without 

er of injustice to them. I wish to acknowledge the assistance 

1 in making these things plain from the speeches of 

r, of Massachusetts; Mason, of Illinois; Baker of 

and Daniells, of West Virginia; also from Mr. Chas. F. 

of Hoston, and Prof. Carl Schurz, of New York. The 

thought and careful study which these eminent men have 

d this subject, although perhaps only from the standpoint of 

cal and philosophical, in contradistinction to prophetical, his- 

jreat help to me in many ways. 

In commending my work to the public, I have only to say that 

I have written has been written with an earnest desire to do 

lis may escape the ruin which is surely to come upon 

I it has been written with malice toward none, with 

r all, with firmness in the right as God has given me to 

Percy T. Magan. 

I 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. PAGB 

A Nation's Birthright ...... 9 

The United States comes into existence over a principle — All 
men created equal — "Consent of the governed " doctrine — Dec- 
laration of Independence one of great general principles — Com- 
ments on the Declaration by Charles Sumner — The Roman theory 
of unlimited power — The European theory of unlimited power — 
The American theory of limited power — Opinion of John Quincy 
Adams — Thackeray on the painting in the rotunda — The Ameri- 
can principle of government — the Bible doctrine of government — 
God and the nations. 

CHAPTER II. 

The Crisis of '61 20 

The American Civil war a contest over a great principle — Lin- 
coln's great Gettysburg speech — The Declaration means just 
what it says — Lincoln's ideas of the Declaration — Judge Doug- 
las's ideas of the Declaration — The ideas of the Fathers of the 
nation concerning the meaning of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence — Thomas Jefferson on slavery — James Madison on slavery — 
A house divided against itself can not stand. 

CHAPTER IH. 

A War for Humanity's Sake ..... 31 

The nation as it issued from the Civil war — The sorrows of Cuba 
— Causes of the revolution in Cuba — Sufferings of the Cuban peo- 
ple — The causes of their sufferings — Declaration of war against 
Spain by the United States — Reasons for the war — Not for the 
increase of territory — Forcible annexation, criminal aggression. 

CHAPTER IV. 

A Chapter in Criminal History .... 41 

The beginnings of Spain — Visigoths become Roman Catholics — 
The Saracens arrive in Spain — Magnificent civilization of the 

[5] 



I CONTENTS. 

Their bouses, gardens, and libraries, and con- 
tribution- to BCience Their burning contrasted with papistical 
The Saracens conquered by the Spaniards — The 
Is attempt to convert the Saracens — Odious persecutions 
— Expulsion of the Saracens from Spain — Degradation of Spain. 

CHAPTER V. 

Th> - Inquisition 52 

Tie i-on for the Inquisition — Everything based on the 

Bible — Treatment of i be Albigenses — Stories circulated concern- 
ing the Jews —Position of Queen Isabella — Ideas of King Ferdi- 
nand V.: idences thai a .lewish conversion was not sincere — The 
hall "f torture — Modes of torture — Why the people of Cuba and 
the Philippine Islands rebelled against Spain. 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Council op Blood ..... 61 

Free Bpiril of the Hollanders — Crimes of Charles the Fifth in 

II land Philip the Second and Bloody Mary — The Edict of 

1550 Fearful persecutions — William the Silent — Hollanders 

to England, and the commerce of Holland declines — The 

preachers "f the Reformation — Field preaching under guard — 

p-meetings in Holland — Composition of the Council of Blood 

Deeds of the Council of Blood —All the inhabitants of Holland 

demned to death — The siege of Leyden — Relief of Leyden — 

ading of the Dutch Republic. 

CHAPTER VII. 

man Imit.hiai.ism — National Apostasy ... 79 

Wh ras conquered Why America, was chosen to conquer 

tting sun of Spanish glory — An old "World power is 

driven from Cuba, but an Old World idea invades the United 

The doctrine that mighl makes right— The doctrine 

ikes might —American Imperialism —The Declara- 

■ mocked at The forcible annexation of the 

\ D. 1809 ideas of the Declaration— Jefferson 

Ideas of John Fiske — James G. Blaine on 

Macaulaj on colonial empires — The American 

ion a war against the colonial system —Supreme Court 

dependencies — The national records 

1 to dependencies, In the organization of the Northwest 



CONTENTS. 7 

Territory, treaty of cession with France over Louisiana purchase, 
in the treaty of Washington over the Floridas, in the treaty of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo over California, Nevada, etc., and in the 
Gadsden and Alaskan purchases — A change of front on the 
"government by consent" doctrine — The purchase of the Phil- 
ippines — Recent opinions on the "consent of the governed " doc- 
trine — In the track of King George — Grand words from Carl 
Schurz — Criminal aggression — Can the government endure half 
citizen, half colonial? — The command, "Silence!" — Liberty at 
the point of the bayonet — Lord Macaulay on slavery in the West 
Indies — Is history a fable? 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Manifest Destiny ....... 109 

What is manifest destiny? — God's dealings with the nations — 
The case of Nebuchadnezzar — The Most High ruleth in the 
kingdoms of men — Story of the Philippine revolt against Spain — 
Cruelties of the Spaniards — Aguinaldo and the Americans — The 
great seal of the United States — Opinions of George Francis 
Adams — Principles born at Lexington and buried at Manila — 
Admiral Dewey's estimate of the Filipinos — Can the Filipinos be 
made good American citizens? — Is it a Christian duty for the 
United States to forcibly annex the Philippines? — Christ and 
civil government — "The Bible in one hand and the shotgun in 
the other" doctrine — Is the United States a Christian nation? — 
Militarism and democracy — God uses nations as instruments — 
The case of Assyria — "My Country, 1899" — The Recessional 
Ode — The task of the forefathers and the task of the sons — Is it 
Live through all time, or Die by suicide? — Which way shall the 
tide of destiny set? 

CHAPTER IX. 

In the Trail op Rome . . . . . .137 

The two great republics — Cause of the transformation of Rome 
from a republic to a military monarchy — How nations lose their 
own freedom — The case in the Philippines — Parallel between 
the last days of the republic of Rome and the present time in the 
United States — Roman expansion — A Roman war in the cause 
of humanity — The liberty that was not given to the Greek repub- 
lics — Rome's treatment of allies — Opinion of Rollin on the 
Roman expansion policy — American expansion in reality contrac- 
tion — When will Cuba be vacated — How God punishes nations — 
Not political theories, but prophetical principles — The Bible 



8 CONTENTS. 

concerning the Roman republic — The Bible ncerning Roman 
expansion — Bible prophecies relating to the United States — The 
ed book, why opened now? — The ruin of Rome and the peril 
of fche-United States. 

CHAPTER X. 
v ob Armageddon? ...... 166 

Maiming peace and preparing for war — China the storm cen- 
ter —The czar's manifesto and the Peace and Disarmament Con- 
ference — The United States formerly the champion of peace — 
The Monroe doctrine — The advent of the United States in the 

at, does it portend peace or war? — Washington's farewell 
address — Carl Sohurz on the English alliance — "What shall be 
th>- sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" — Position of 
Jerusalem in the world — Position of the United States in the 
world — The vision of the great image — The ten kingdoms of 
prophecy — The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom — The 
Image struck upon the feet — The reason for this — The kings of 
the East — Turkey and the great powers — Prophecies concern- 
ing Russia — The apostasy of the United States — All nations in 
rebellion — The armies of heaven — The kingdom and citizens of 
our Lord and of his Christ. 

APPENDIX. 

Thk I'mti bs and Slavery in the Sulus . . 189 



THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 



CHAPTER I. 



A NATION'S BIRTHRIGHT. 

The advent of the United States upon history's stage broke the 
dawn of a new era, not alone for the Old Thirteen, but for all man- 
kind. The principles of freedom enunciated in the immortal Decla- 
ration of Independence were pregnant with weal for tens of thousands 
in other climes, and for millions then unborn, as well as for the 
embattled farmers who fought at Lexington and Concord. 

The new nation appealed not to tables of dynasty and royal suc- 
cession to prove her title to life or her right to existence as a sover- 
eign state among peers. Discarding these, her founders bore her 
into the arena upon certain self-evident truths. Her people assumed 
their equal and separate station among the powers of the earth by 
"the laws of nature and of nature's God." 1 

Hitherto the doctrine had prevailed that the Almighty had 
created one class to govern and another class to be governed. States. 
men had universally held that all men were not created equal, and 
ecclesiastics had not been slow in seconding their teachings. When 
from time to time philosophers had arisen inculcating ideas of liberty 
and equality, they had been branded as anarchists by the state and 
as atheists by the church. Many a time both the civil and religious 
powers had buried their own differences of opinion and claims of 
jurisdiction in order that they might form a union for the sole pur- 
pose of more effectively dealing swift and summary punishment to 
these disturbers of the existing order of things. The rack, the 
fagot, and all the ingenious and exquisite tortures which the Inqui- 
sition could devise had been freely employed to wring from unwilling 
lips the desired recantation. 

i Declaration of Independence, par. 1. 

[9 J 



Id THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

to the time of our glorious Revolution the doctrine that 

rnments derive their just powers from the consent of the gov- 

i was wholly unknown in national practise. The princes and 

atatea of the nations of Europe had entrenched themselves 

behind that wickedest of all political tenets, the divine right of 

This they amplified till it might better have read, the divine 

right of kings to govern wrong. With the aid of this as their creed, 

they bad outraged in their subjects the inborn sense of manhood to 

Bach an extent that by the time the close of the eighteenth century 

vrae reached it was well nigh extinct ; and the majority of the human 

family, worn out by the struggle of centuries, were about to sink 

into a long sleep of political death from which it seemed almost 

impossible that there should be an awakening. 

But the -park of light and life still burned; and a few bold sen- 
9, the reflection of a few brave hearts, kindled a pillar of fire 
to guide mankind out of the wilderness of medieval political errors 
into the Canaan of governmental truth. As are the ten command- 
ments and the golden rule in divinity, so are the precepts that 
rnments derive their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
I. and that all men arc created equal, in civility. The Declara- 
tion of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are 
indeed the New and Old Testaments in things pertaining to Coesar, 
the one Berving as a commentary in the light of which the other 
be interpreted." Immortal are the words of Jefferson, the sage 
of Monticello; grand in their simplicity and "noble roughness : " — 
• When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
on'- people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them 
with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the 
rate and equal Btation to which the laws of nature and of nature's 
God entitle them. :i (hc.nl respect to the opinions of mankind 
requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the 
nation. 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
[ual . that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable rights . that among these are life, liberty, and the pur- 
of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are insti- 
ll riving their just powers from the consent of the 
i 



A nation's birthright. 11 

The Declaration of Independence is a declaration of great general 
principles, as well as a recital of certain specific grievances. It was 
never written to meet the exigencies of one particular time or people. 
No nation prior to this one had ever declared it as a principle good 
for all mankind that all men are created equal, or that governments 
derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. None of 
the great nations of Europe ever taught or ever believed these pre- 
cepts. They were born simultaneously with the American Republic. 
They constituted her christening robe and her birthright, peculiarly 
her own, and the first infant cry of her national life. That nation 
of the old world which has ever been the foremost in promulgating 
doctrines of freedom and liberty did not believe these things, for she 
it was who fought them. She did not even believe them in their 
most limited sense for her most limited self, — the isle of England, 
as distinguished from colony and dependency. Much less, therefore, 
did she consider them as divine and immortal truths, applicable to all 
times and places, and worthy of being the basis of government among 
men in every kindred and nation and tongue and tribe and people. 

Well has Charles Sumner said: — 

' ' The words that governments derive their just powers from the 
consent of the governed are sacred words, full of life-giving energy. 
Not simply national independence was here proclaimed, but also the 
primal rights of all mankind. Then and there appeared the angel 
of human liberation, speaking and acting at once with heaven-born 
strength, breaking bolts, unloosing bonds, and opening prison doors ; 
always ranging on its mighty errand, wherever there are any, no 
matter of what country or race, who struggle for rights denied ; now 
cheering Garibaldi at Naples, as it had cheered Washington in the 
snows of Valley Forge, and especially visiting all who are down- 
trodden, whispering that there is none so poor as to be without 
rights which every man is bound to respect, none so degraded as to 
be beneath its beneficent reach, none so lofty as to be above its 
restraining power; while before it despotism and oligarchy fall on 
their faces, like the image of Dagon, and the people everywhere 
begin to govern themselves. " 

And again he says : — 

• ' These words in the Declaration of Independence were not 
uttered in vain. Do you suppose them idle? Do you suppose them 



12 PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

mere phrase or generality'.'' No such thing. They are living words, 
bich this country is solemnly bound, and from which it can 
never escape until they are fulfilled. Your statutes can not contain 
any limitation which inflicts an indignity upon any portion of the 
human family . " 

yet again : — 

"The Declaration of Independence is the twofold promise; first, 

that all are equal in rights, and secondly, that just government 

ly on the consent of the governed, being the two great 

political commandments on which hang all laws and constitutions. 

rnly, and you will keep all. Write them in your 

Statutes; write them in }'our hearts. This is the great and only final 

settlement of all existing questions. To this sublime consecration 

of the Republic let us aspire." 

In liberty, therefore, was the nation conceived; to these two prop- 
ositions was it Bacredly dedicated and solemnly sealed in the blood 
one. As the Bible declares that all men are equal before 
the /. ■ i. i ■ . that God is no respecter of persons, so the Declara- 
allirms that all men are equal before the law, and that this 
equality is their own unalienable and primal right. The Declaration 
nol mean that all men are equal in all respects. But it does 
. and it does say that they are equal in their right to life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And in this it recognizes the 
nobility of man as the creation of God, and makes no exception or 
kction in favor of an}' human caste or human lineage. 
'•Obviously, men are not born equal in physical strength or in 
.1 capacity, in beauty of form or in health of body. Diversity 
or inequality in these respects is the law of creation. But this 
lality is in no particular inconsistent with complete civil or 
cal equality. 
•The equality declared by our fathers in 1776, and made the 
fundamental La* oi Massachusetts in 1780, was equality before the 
law. [ts object was to efface all political or civil distinctions, and 
olish all institutions founded upon birth. 'All men ^recreated 
equal ie Declaration o\ Independence. 'All men are born 

nd equal,' says the Massachusetts Bill of Rights. These are 
not vain words. Within the sphere of their influence, no person 
can be created, no person can be born, with civil or political privi- 



a nation's birthright. 13 

leges not enjoyed equally by all his fellow citizens; nor can any 
institutions be established, recognizing distinctions of birth. Here 
is the great charter of every human being drawing vital breath upon 
this soil, whatever may be his conditions, and whoever may be his 
parents. He may be poor, weak, humble, or black ; he may be of 
Caucasian, Jewish, Indian, or Ethiopian race; he may be born of 
French, German, English, or Irish extraction ; but before the consti- 
tution of Massachusetts all these distinctions disappear. He is not 
poor, weak, humble, or black; nor is he Caucasian, Jew, Indian, 
or Ethiopian ; nor is he French, German, English, or Irish ; he is a 
man, the equal of all his fellow-men. ... To some it [the state] 
may allot higher duties, according to higher capacities; but it 
welcomes all to its equal hospitable board. The state, imitating the 
divine justice, is no respecter of persons. " 2 

This is the true doctrine of civil government, this is the Bible 
doctrine for civil government. 

There is still another principle in the Declaration of Indepen 
dence which is worthy of notice here. The doctrine of the nations 
of medieval times was that "might makes right." If a nation 
possessed enough arbitrary power and physical force to accomplish 
a certain end, no matter how criminally aggressive, no matter how 
tyrannical or despotic that end might be, the power to do was always 
supposed to prove the rightfulness of the thing done. And back of 
this time, in the dawn of European history, in the days of the 
Eoman Republic, that nation had held to the doctrine of " Vox 
Populi vox Dei, " — " The voice of the people is the voice of God ; " 
in other words, the Roman doctrine was that if the majority of the 
people approved of a thing, it must be right. 

But the Declaration of Independence, with one simple yet 
sweeping statement, disowns, disclaims, and discards both the Roman 
and the medieval theories, and substitutes in their place a principle 
beyond comparison with them for its lofty and^ holy teachings. In 
the last paragraph of that immortal document it is written that 
these United Colonies as free and independent States "have full 
power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish 
commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent 
States may of right do." 

aChas. Sumner, "Works," Vol. II, pp. 341, 342. 



14 TIIK PERIL OK THE REPUBLIC. 



Wrapped in these words was a new doctrine. Here was the 
enunciation of a principle hitherto unheard of. Heretofore sover- 
\ had been considered as being unlimited and illimitable. But 
the Declaration of Independence brought to the birth a new prin- 
ciple, that right is superior to all earthly power, whether vested 
in prince or potentate or in a republican form of government. With 
the founders of this government it was not a question of what the 
nation was able to do, but contrariwise, what was right for the nation 
to do. I quote once more from the great Sumner : — 

'• But the great Declaration, not content with announcing certain 
rights as unalienable, and therefore beyond the control of any gov- 
ernment, still further restrains the sovereignty, which it asserts by 
Bimply declaring that the United States have ' full power to do all 
acts and things which independent States may of right do.' Here 
is a well-defined limitation upon the popular sovereignty. The 
dogma of Tory lawyers and pamphleteers — put forward to sustain 
the claim of parliamentary omnipotence, and vehemently espoused 
by Dr. .Johnson in his 'Taxation no Tyranny' — was taught, that 
sovereignty is in its nature illimitable, precisely as it is now 
ly professed by Mr. Douglas for his handful of squatters. 
But this doctrine is distinctly discarded in the Declaration, and it is 
frankly proclaimed that all sovereignty is subordinate to the rule of 
Mark, now, the difference: all existing governments at that 
time, even the local governments of the colonies, stood on power 
without limitation. Here was a new government, which, taking its 
place among the nations, announced that it stood only on right, and 
claimed no sovereignty inconsistent with right." 3 

I" 1837 John Quincy Adams in a Fourth of July oration at 

i! \ port, said: — 
" The bov< reign authority conferred upon the people of the colo- 
nic by the Declaration of Independence could not dispense them, 
any individual citizen of them, from the fulfilment of their 
: obligations. The people who assumed their equal and sepa- 
itation among the powers of the earth, by the laws of nature's 
hat very act acknowledged themselves bound to the observ- 
er those laws, and could neither exercise nor confer any power 
I with them." 



1 Ehunner, " Works.' 



A nation's birthright 15 

Still further alluding to the self-imposed restraints upon the 
sovereignty which had been established, he said : — 

' ' The Declaration acknowledged the rule of right paramount to 
the power of independent States itself, and virtually disclaimed all 
power to do wrong. This was a novelty in the moral philosophy of 
nations, and it is the essential point of difference between the sys- 
tem of government announced in the Declaration of Independence 
and those systems which had until then prevailed among men. . . . 
It was an experiment upon the heart of man. All the legislators of 
the human race until that day had laid the foundations of all gov- 
ernment among men in power; and hence it was that in the maxims 
of theory, as well as in the practise of nations, sovereignty was 
held to be unlimited and illimitable. The Declaration of Independ- 
ence proclaimed another law, ... a law of right, binding upon 
nations as well as individuals, upon sovereigns as well as upon sub- 
jects. ... In assuming the attributes of sovereign power, the 
colonists appealed to the Supreme Judge of the world for the recti- 
tude of their intentions, and neither claimed nor conferred authority 
to do anything but for right." 

"Well indeed has George Bancroft, America's greatest historian, 
said : — 

"This immortal state paper, which for its composer was the 
aurora of enduring fame, was ' the genuine effusion of the soul of 
the country at that time,' the revelation of its mind, when, in its 
youth, its enthusiasm, its sublime confronting of danger, it rose to 
the highest creative powers of which man is capable. The bill of 
rights which it promulgates is of rights that are older than human 
institutions, and spring from the eternal justice that is anterior to 
the state. " 4 

In a speech delivered in the United States Senate, Jan. 9, 1899, 
Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, refers to Thackeray's comment upon 
the great picture in the rotunda of the capitol. So beautifully and 
forcibly has he woven into his argument this incident, and another 
with it, that I take the liberty of giving it again in his own 
words, for they are far better than my own could be: — 

"Thackeray, no mean judge of noble art, no mean judge of 
noble actions, was one day crossing the rotunda of this capitol in 

4 Bancroft, " History of United States." Vol. IV, chap. 28. 



THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

company with Charles Sumner. He stopped before the picture 
where the genius of the great artist of Connecticut has delineated 
on the imperishable canvas the scene when the Declaration of 
Independence was presented by Jefferson to the solemn sitting over 
which Hancock presided, and the new nation, born on the 19th of 
April, 1775, was baptized in the faith of our new gospel of liberty. 
He stood for a moment silent, and then said to Mr. Sumner, 'That's 
your painter.' 

"Surely he was right. The foremost action of human history 
is fitly represented by the great work which we fondly hope is to be 
as enduring as time, enduring as the Republic, enduring as liberty. 
It is there, in the foremost place of honor which can be found on 
this earth. No Parthenon, no Saint Peter's, no Palace of the Escu- 
rial, no Sans Souci, not Westminster Abbey itself, can equal, at 
least to our eyes, this spot, where forever a great and free people 
declares its constitutional will. 

" Beneath the great dome to which the pilgrim from afar first 
repairs when he visits the capital of his country, hangs the great 
picture which delineates the scene, when the nation was first baptized 
into immortal life. It was not only the independence of America 
which was then declared, it toas the dignity of human nature itself. 

" "When Samuel Rogers visited the Dominican convent at Padua, 
an aged friar showed him the famous picture of 'The Last Supper' 
in the refectory of the convent. He said: — 

" ' I have sat at my meals before it for seven and forty years, 
and such are the changes that have taken place among us — so many 
have come and gone in that time — that when I look upon the com- 
pany there, upon those who are sitting at that table, silent as they 
are, I am sometimes inclined to think that we, not they, are the 
shadows.' 

" As administrations, terms of presidential office, begin and end, 
as senators and representatives come and go before the silent figures 
in that immortal picture, it seems to me that we are but the shadows, 
while Hancock and Jefferson and Adams and Franklin and Ellsworth 
and Livingston are atill deliberating, still acting, still alive." 5 

In the Book of books it is written that "the grass withereth, the 
flower fadeih: hut the word of our God shall stand forever; " and in 

ii of Hon. George F. Hoar in the United States Senate, Jan. 9, 1899. 



A nation's birthright. 17 

another place that that immortal Word «' liveth and abideth forever." 
And it is even so with the great principles of the Declaration of In- 
dependence and of the Constitution of the United States. They are 
coeval with time, and they will be commensurate with eternity. The 
government of God in the beautiful world to come will be a govern- 
ment of love, a government founded upon the principles of the con- 
sent of the governed; for every soul in that blest home and kingdom, 
and in all the infinite universe, will desire naught else but that God 
and Jesus Christ shall rule. This will be the supreme and ever- 
living desire of every one. Heaven's government is indeed one 
deriving its powers, which are only just, from the consent of the 
governed. Every voice in the righteous nation blends in that glad 
chorus : < ' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and 
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and bless- 
ing." Says John, the revelator: "Every creature which is in 
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in 
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and 
honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." 

Some years ago James Russell Lowell was asked by Guizot, the 
great French historian, how long the Republic of the United States 
might reasonably be expected to endure. "So long," replied Mr. 
Lowell, "as the ideas of its founders continue dominant." 

No truer answer than this could possibly have been given. The 
United States obtained its national charter from the hand of Provi- 
dence with the distinct understanding that its cardinal principles of 
government should forever be liberty and equality; and also with the 
express stipulation that the rule of right should always be paramount 
to the poicer of the sovereign State. 

If the Republic shall ever permanently desert these great prin- 
ciples, the star of her genius will set forevermore. By that foul act 
of disloyalty and treason to "the laws of nature and of nature's 
God," she will forfeit her own right to "life, liberty, and the pur- 
suit of happiness." Woe be the day when she shall deny these 
unalienable rights, these precious God-given boons, to any portion of 
the family of mankind. In that selfsame hour the bloodless hand 
will once again trace the dread writing on the national wall: Mene, 
Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, — God hath numbered thy kingdom and 
2 



18 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. 
To her it will be said, "Reward her even as she rewarded others, 
and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup 
which she hath filled, fill to her double." 

If we shall ever deny to others the right of government by their 
own consent, by such a deed we shall ourselves surrender to the 
Creator the charter of our national life, of our corporate existence 

Can it even be that in recent events the treacherous and malig- 
nant deed has indeed been done ? Has the gloomy cloud which has 
hovered over and mantled our acts in the far East contained in its 
folds a Macbethian dagger, which, while slaying inoffensive and 
semicivilized people in the innocence of their national childhood, is 
in reality being plunged to the hilt into the fountain of our waters 
of life to poison them with the dread drug of despotism which sits 
upon its blade ? Is national suicide being committed ? Is the seal 
of state sorrow being set ? Is the die of doom even now being 
cast ? 

To every nation as to every man God has committed its work. 
The Captain of our salvation sets the course of the man, and bids 
him steer the bark of his life for a port of spiritual and religious 
perfection wherein is immortality and everlasting peace. On the 
chart of the ocean of time the haven which he is to gain is faith- 
fully marked. Happy is the man who knoweth and obeyeth his 
Creator in this. With the individual man the goal pertaineth to 
the things of the soul, to the things of spirituality. 

So also it is with nations. The King of kings sets the course for 
every ship of state. Happy are the legislators who hold thereto. For 
the nation God appointeth a harbor of perfection in things civil, just 
as verily as for man he appointeth it in things religious. Should 
the nation turn aside and steer another course, naught but the rocks 
of destruction await it. All this is clearly brought to view in the 
great Book of books. For it is written that he < « hath made of one 
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, 
and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of 
their habitation." It is the Lord, then, who determines the time 
when nations shall rise and when they shall totter to their fall. It 
is the great I Am who says to the nations concerning their boun- 
daries, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther: and here shall 



A nation's birthright. 19 

thy proud waves be stayed." And Job said: "He leadeth away 
counselors spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. He loose th the 
bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. He leadeth 
princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. He removeth 
away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding 
of the aged. He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth 
the strength of the mighty. He discovereth deep things out of 
darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. He 
increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the 
nations and straighteneth them again. He taketh away the heart of 
the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in 
a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark with- 
out light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man." 6 

With every nation, as with every man, an account is opened on 
the ledger of life in the record office above. With unerring accuracy 
the Infinite One keeps an account with every kindred and nation and 
tongue and tribe and people. « ' While his mercy is tendered, with 
calls to repentance, this account will remain open; but when the 
figures reach a certain amount which God has fixed, the ministry of 
his wrath commences. The account is closed. Divine patience 
ceases. There is no more pleading of mercy in their behalf. " 

With men there is a hereafter. With nations there is not; and 
as they can not be punished or rewarded in the next world, they 
must be in this. Will the United States remain true to her trust ? 
That is the question which even now is hanging in the balances of 
time. 



« Job 13 : 17-25. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE CRISIS OF '6L 

In the dark times which preceded the crisis of '61, gloomy 
shades, as of the last days of the Republic, stealthily attempted to 
draw their weird forms across the land. 

The Civil war between the North and the South was a struggle 
over principle. In the famous Gettysburg address, Abraham Lin- 
coln stated this principle in immortal prose as follows : — 

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on 
this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to 
the proposition that all men are created equal. 

• • Now we are engaged in a great Civil war, testing whether that 
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long 
endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. "We have 
come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for 
those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is 
altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

'• But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not conse- 
crate, we can not hallow, this ground. The brave men, living 
and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our 
poor power to add or detract. The world will little note or long 
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did 
here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the 
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly 
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task 
remaining before us; that from these honored dead we take 
increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full 
measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead 
shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have 
.1 aew birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the 
people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." 

ion thai all men are creal d equal was on trial in the 
Civil war. The struggle was to test whether the government con- 
[20] 






THE CRISIS OF '61. 21 

ceived in liberty was so to endure. The brave men who shed their 
blood, shed it in behalf of liberty and equality. They courted death, 
and flocked to its arbitrary and despotic arms, in order that the 
nation of liberty and equality might live. 

Every principle of the Declaration of Independence was at stake ; 
and as the principles of the Declaration were the vital life of the 
nation, it logically followed that if those principles were abandoned, 
the ruin of the young Republic was assured. Lincoln's whole effort 
was one in behalf of the Declaration — for liberty and equality. 

On the part of the champions of slavery a plea was set up that 
the Declaration did not mean just what it said; that the clause, 
"all men are created equal," was not a self-evident truth, but on 
the contrary, a "self-evident lie." It was held that the framers of 
the great charter of our liberties never intended to include the 
negro in the meaning of the word "all" in the clause above quoted. 
In fact, every kind and description of cringing sophistry and coun- 
terfeit logic was used to prove that what was said in the Declaration 
was not true ; or that if it was true, it was limited to the time of 
the Revolution, and that it did not contain great general principles 
applicable to all places, all times, and all peoples. It was against 
these arguments that Lincoln expended his strength and his life. 

In a speech delivered at Springfield, 111., June 26, 1857, we find 
the following noble defense of true principles: — 

' ' In those days [the days of the Revolution] , our Declaration of 
Independence was held sacred by all, and thought to include all; 
but now, to aid in making the bondage of the negro universal and 
eternal, it is assailed, and sneered at, and construed, and hawked 
at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they 
could not at all recognize it. All the powers of earth seem rapidly 
combining against him. Mammon is after him, ambition follows, 
philosophy follows, and the theology of the day is fast joining the 
cry. They have him in his prison house; they have searched his 
person, and left no prying instruments with him. One after another 
they have closed the heavy iron doors upon him ; and now they have 
him, as it were, bolted in with a lock of a hundred keys, which can 
never be unlocked without the concurrence of every key; the keys 
in the hands of a hundred different men, and they scattered to a 
hundred different and distant places; and they stand musing as to 



Tl THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

what invention, in all the dominions of mind and matter, can be 
produced to make the impossibility of his escape more complete than 
it is. . . . Judge Douglas finds the Republicans insisting that the 
Declaration of Independence includes all men, black as well as 
white; and forthwith he boldly denies that it includes negroes at all, 
and proceeds to argue gravel}' that all who contend that it docs, do 
so only because they want to vote, and eat, and sleep, and marry 
with the negroes! He will have it that they can not be consistent 
else. Now I protest against the counterfeit logic which concludes 
that, because I do not want a black woman for a slave, I must nec- 
essarily want her for a wife. I need not have her for either. I can 
just leave her alone. In some respects she certainly is not my 
equal ; but in her natural right to eat the bread she earns with her 
own hands without asking leave of any one else, she is my equal, 
and the equal of all others. 

' ' Chief Justice Taney, in his opinion in the Dred Scott case, 
admits that the language of the Declaration is broad enough to 
include the whole human family; but he and Judge Douglas argue 
that the authors of that instrument did not intend to include negroes, 
by the fact that they did not at once actually place them on an 
equality with the whites. Now this grave argument comes to just 
nothing at all, by the other fact that they did not at once, or ever 
afterwards, actually place all white people on an equality with one 
another. And this is the staple argument of both the chief justice 
and the senator for doing this obvious violence to the plain, unmis- 
takable language of the Declaration! 

' ' I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to 
include all men: but they did not intend to declare all men equal in 
all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in color, 
size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity. They 
defined, with tolerable distinctness, in what respects they did con- 
sul, r all men created equal — equal with 'certain unalienable rights, 
among which arc life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' This 
they said, and this they meant. They did not mean to assert the 
obvious untruth that all were then actually enjoying that equality, 
nor yet that they were about to confer it immediately upon them. 
In fact, they had no power to confer such a boon. They meant 
simply to declare the right, so that enforcement of it might follow 

ist as circumstances would permit. 



THE CRISIS OF '61. 23 

"They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which 
should be familiar to all, and revered by all ; constantly looked to, 
constantly labored for; and even though never perfectly attained, 
constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deep- 
ening its influence and augmenting the happiness and value of life to 
all people of all colors everywhere. The assertion that ' all men are 
created equal ' was of no practical value in effecting our separation 
from Great Britain ; and it was placed in the Declaration, not for 
that, but for future use. Its authors meant it to be as, thank God, 
it is now proving itself, a stumbling-block to all those who, in after 
times, might seek to turn a free people back into the hateful paths 
of despotism. They knew the proneness of prosperity to breed 
tyrants, and they meant when such should reappear in this fair land 
and commence their vocation, they should find left for them at least 
one hard nut to crack. 

< < I have now briefly expressed my view of the meaning and 
object of that part of the Declaration of Independence which 
declares that all men are created equal. 

' ' Now let us hear Judge Douglas's view of the same subject, as 
I find it in the printed report of his late speech. Here it is: — 

" 'No man can vindicate the character, motives, and conduct of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, except upon the 
hypothesis that they referred to the white race alone, and not to the 
African, when they declared all men to have been created equal; 
that they were speaking of British subjects on this continent being 
equal to British subjects born and residing in Great Britain; that 
they were entitled to the same unalienable rights, and among them 
were enumerated life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The 
Declaration was adopted for the purpose of justifying the colonists 
in the eyes of the civilized world in withdrawing their allegiance 
from the British crown, and dissolving their connection with the 
mother country. ' 

< ' My good friends, read that carefully over some leisure hour, 
and ponder well upon it; see what a mere wreck — mangled ruin — 
it makes of our once glorious Declaration. 

<< ' They were speaking of British subjects on this continent being 
equal to British subjects born and residing in Great Britain ! ' Why, 
according to this, not only negroes, but white people outside of 
Great Britain and America, were not spoken of in that instrument. 



24 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

The English, Irish, and Scotch, along with white Americans, were 
included, to be sure; but the French. Germans, and other white 
peoples of the world are all gone to pot along with the Judge's 
inferior races. 

■ [ had thought the Declaration promised something better than 
the condition of British subjects; but no, it only meant that we 
should be equal to them in their own oppressed and unequal condi- 
tion! According to that, it gave no promise that, having kicked off 
the king and lords of Great Britain, we should not at once be sad- 
dled with a king and lords of our own in these United States. 

"I had thought the Declaration contemplated the progressive 
improvement in the condition of all men everywhere; but no, it 
merely < was adopted for the purpose of justifying the colonists in 
the eyes of the civilized world in withdrawing their allegiance from 
the British crown, and dissolving their connection with the mother 
country. ' Why, that object having been effected some eighty years 
ago, the Declaration is of no practical use now — mere rubbish — 
old wadding left to rot on the battle-field after the victory is won. 

' ' I understand you are preparing to celebrate ' The Fourth ' to- 
morrow week. What for? The doings of that day had no refer- 
ence to the present; and quite half of you are not even descendants 
of those who were referred to at that day. But I suppose you will 
celebrate ; and will even go so far as to read the Declaration. Sup- 
pose, after you read it once in the old-fashioned way, you read it 
once more with Judge Douglas's version. It will then run thus: 
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all British subjects 
who were on this continent eighty-one years ago, were created equal 
to all British subjects born and then residing in Great Britain.' 

•' And now I appeal to all, — to Democrats as well as others, — 
are you really willing that the Declaration shall be thus frittered 
away? thus left no more at most than an interesting memorial of 
the dead past? thus shorn of its vitality and practical value, and 
left without the germ or even the suggestion of the individual rights 
of man in it? " 

All of this is good doctrine. It is the b >st kind of civil govern- 
ment gospel. It is the enunciating of principles which are immor- 
tal, and which will stand as long as time itself. And it can never 
be remembered too often, that it was in defense of these principles 



THE CRISIS OF '61. 25 

so ably toid by Abraham Lincoln that tens of thousands shed their 
blood upon the field of battle in the Civil war. This was clearly seen 
and recognized by the leaders at that time. The blare of battle and 
reek of carnage seem to last longer in the minds of most men than 
the principles over which the battles were fought. Nevertheless it 
is the principles which should interest all, for they are of vital 
importance to all. 

In .another speech delivered in Chicago, 111., July 10, 1858, 
Lincoln further amplified his comments upon the Declaration of 
Independence as follows : — 

"We are now a mighty nation; we are thirty, or about thirty, 
millions of people, and we own and inhabit about one-fifteenth part 
of the dry land of the whole earth. We run our memory back over 
the pages of history for about eighty-two years, and we discover 
that we were then a very small people in point of numbers, vastly 
inferior to what we are now, with a vastly less extent of country, 
with vastly less of everything we deem desirable among men; we 
look upon the change as exceedingly advantageous to us and to our 
posterity, and we fix upon something that happened away back, as 
in some way or other being connected with this rise of prosperity. 
We find a race of men living in that day whom we claim as our 
fathers and grandfathers; they were iron men, they fought for the 
principles that they were contending for ; and we understood that 
by what they then did it has followed that the degree of prosperity 
which we now enjoy has come to us. We hold this annual celebra- 
tion to remind ourselves of all the good done in this process of time, 
of how it was done, and who did it, and how we are historically con- 
nected with it; and we go from these meetings in better humor with 
ourselves, we feel more attached the one to the other, and more 
firmly bound to the country we inhabit. In every way we are better 
men in the age and race and country in which we live, for these 
celebrations. 

' < But after we have done all this, we have not yet reached the 
whole. There is something else connected with it. We have, 
besides these men descended by blood from our ancestors, among 
us, perhaps half our people, who are not descendants at all of these 
men; they are men who have come from Europe, — German, Irish, 
French, and Scandinavian, — men that have come hither and settled 



26 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

here, finding themselves our equals in all things. If they look back 
through this history to trace their connection with those clays by 
blood, they find they have none, they can not carry themselves back 
into that glorious epoch, and make themselves feel that they are part 
of us ; but when they look through that old Declaration of Independ- 
ence, they find that those old men say that ( we hold these truths to 
be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; ' and then they feel 
that that moral sentiment, taught in that day, evidences their rela- 
tion to those men, that it is the father of all moral principle in 
them, and that they have a right to claim it as though they were 
blood of the blood and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote the 
Declaration [loud and long continued applause] ; and so they are. 
That is the electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of 
patriotic and liberty-loving men together — that will link those 
patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds 
of men throughout the world. [Applause.] 

' ' Now, sirs, for the purpose of squaring things with this idea of 
' don't care if slavery is voted up or voted down,' for sustaining the 
Dred Scott decision, for holding that the Declaration of Independ- 
ence did not mean anything at all, we have Judge Douglas giving 
his exposition of what the Declaration of Independence means, and 
we have him saying that the people of America are equal to the 
people of England. According to his construction, you Germans 
are not connected with it. Now, I ask you in all soberness, if all 
these things, if indulged in, if ratified, if confirmed and indorsed, if 
taught to our children, and repeated to them, do not tend to rub out 
the sentiment of liberty in the country, and to transform this 
government into a government of some other form ? 

" Those arguments that are made, that the inferior race are to be 
treated with as much allowance as they are capable of enjoying ; 
that as much is to be done for them as their condition will allow, 
what are these arguments? — They are the arguments that kings 
have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world. You 
will find that all the arguments in favor of kingcraft were of this 
class ; they always bestrode the necks of the people, not that they 
wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being 
ridden. That is their argument, and this argument of the Judge is 
the same old serpent that says, You work, and I eat ; you toil, and 



THE CRISIS OF '61. 27 

I will enjoy the fruits of it. Turn it in whatever way you will, 
whether it come from the mouth of a king as an excuse for enslav- 
ing the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one 
race as a reason for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the 
same old serpent ; and I hold, if that course of argumentation which 
is made for the purpose of convincing the public mind that we 
should not care about this, should be granted, it does not stop with 
the negro. I should like to know if, taking this old Declaration of 
Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle, 
and making exceptions to it, where will it stop ? If one man says 
it does not mean a negro, why not another say it does not mean 
some other man ? If that Declaration is not the truth, let us get 
the statute book in which we find it, and tear it out ! Who is so 
bold as to do it ? If it is not true, let us tear it out ! [Cries of ' no, 
no. '] Let us stick to it, then ; let us stand firmly by it, then. 

"It may be argued that there are certain conditions that make 
necessities and impose them upon us; and to the extent that a 
necessity is imposed on a man, he must submit to it. I think that 
was the condition in which we found ourselves when we established 
this government. We had slaves among us ; we could not get our 
Constitution unless we permitted them to remain in slavery, we could 
not secure the good we did secure if we grasped for more. But 
having by necessity submitted to that much, it does not destroy the 
principle that is the charter of our liberties. Let that charter stand 
as our standard. 

' « My friend has said to me that I am a poor hand to quote 
Scripture. I will try it again, however. It is said in one of the 
admonitions of our Lord, « As your Father in heaven is perfect, be 
ye also perfect. ' The Saviour, I suppose, did not expect that any 
human creature could be as perfect as the Father in heaven ; but he 
said, ' As your Father in heaven is perfect, be ye also perfect. ' He 
set that up as a standard, and he who did most toward reaching that 
b.andard attained the highest degree of moral perfection. So I say 
in relation to the principle that all men are created equal, let it be 
as nearly reached as we can. If we can not give freedom to every 
creature, let us do nothing that will impose slavery upon any other 
creature. Let us then turn this government back into the channel 
in which the framers of the Constitution originally placed it." 



28 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

We must transport ourselves, in mind and spirit, if not in body, 
back to those days of strife in order that we may imbibe even a little 
of the spirit which animated them. We must feel and know and 
understand in our innermost and truest selves something of the 
intensity of feeling which inspired the breast of the immortal Lincoln 
and the brave men who stood with him. Let all understand that 
the principles of the Declaration of Independence were the main 
issue under consideration in those momentous times. They were 
not a mere side circumstance. They were the all and in all. It 
seems as if human language could make these truths no plainer than 
Lincoln made them. That he said exactly what the noble instrument 
itself said is perfectly plain. And that he was also correct in his 
estimate of the ideas of the Fathers concerning their position on the 
negro question is a fact which no honest man can reasonably dispute. 

An interesting little incident in the history of James Madison 
clearly evidences this. In the year 1783 one of his slaves escaped, 
and was afterward found by Madison himself in Philadelphia. But 
he did not force him back into slavery; on the contrary he wrote 
to his father that he had ' ' judged it most prudent not to force 
Billey back to Virginia, even if it could be done;" and that he 
could not :< think of punishing him by transportation merely for 
coveting that liberty for which we have paid the price of so much 
blood, and have proclaimed so often to be the right, and worthy the 
pursuit, of every human being. " 

But the advocates and champions of an extension of slavery 
were not easily downed. Not one of them, however, came out 
openty and said that an extension of slavery was what was desired. 
But every move they made, every act they did, and every speech 
they made showed beyond the shade of a shadow of a doubt that 
this was the focal point, the ultimate end which they desired. 

It seems astonishing that men could so suddenly depart from the 
glorious gospel of liberty and equal rights for which their fathers 
had struggled in the Revolutionary war. It would seem that the 
remembrance of those things, yea, verily the warm breath of them, 
ought to have still been in and upon their souls. It seems almost 
incredible that men could rise up and make such sweeping denials 
of the principles which had won for them their own freedom just a 
few short years before. But passion and prejudice were doing their 



THE CRISIS OF '61. 29 

deadly work ; and once these two foul demons have taken possession 
of the temple of the soul, facts are treated as a mere bagatelle, the 
truth is trampled in the dust, and naught is thought of or cared for 
but the end so ardently desired. 

The evidence that the great Revolutionary leaders were opposed 
to slavery is monumental and beyond dispute. The famous words 
of Thomas Jeffersou, ' ' I tremble for my country, for I know that 
God is just," were spoken with reference to slavery. At the federal 
convention, Mason, compressing the observation of a long life into 
a few burning words, made the statement, "This infernal traffic 
originated in the avarice of British merchants; the British govern- 
ment constantly checked the attempts of Virginia to put a stop to 
it. . . . Slaves produce the most pernicious effects on manners. 
Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the 
judgment of heaven upon a country. As nations can not be 
rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this. 
By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes 
national sins by national calamities." And the Constitution lim- 
ited the importation of slaves to the year 1808; and when that year 
broke, the importation of slaves had ceased. This was the best that 
could be done; but there were many who would fain have seen 
slavery abolished altogether at the time of the birth of the nation. 

Said Madison, in a paper addressed to the country: — 

' < An unhappy species of population abounds in some of the 
States, who, during the calm of the regular government, are sunk 
below the level of men; but who, in the tempestuous scenes of civil 
violence, may emerge into the human character, and give a supe- 
riority of strength to any party with which they associate them- 
selves." 

It is a true principle of history that a free people can not long 
govern subject provinces and still retain their own freedom. 
Exceptions can not be made to principles without the exceptions 
destroying the principle itself. If a principle of government is vio- 
lated to day in one portion of a nation's domain, it will not be long 
until that violation, like a deadly leprosy, will have eaten its way to 
every acre of territory in the national domain. 

Lincoln clearly saw and understood this, and expressed it in a 
speech delivered at Springfield, 111., June 16, 1858: — 



30 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

" ' A house divided against itself can not stand.' I believe this 
government can not endure permanently half slave and half free. 
I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the 
house to fall ; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will 
become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of 
slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the 
public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ulti- 
mate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall 
become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as 
well as South." 

In the Civil war the principles of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence were triumphant. It was settled, for a time at least, that the 
nation was to endure as the fathers had designed, true to its con- 
ception in liberty, and still dedicated to the proposition that all men 
are created equal. 



CHAPTER III 



A WAR FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE. 

The "mighty scourge " of the Civil war bathed the fair fields of 
the sunny South in torrents of crimson life-blood drawn from the 
veins of her strongest sons, and the wealth piled up by the bonds- 
man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil was sunk in 
that terrible effort of Herculean strength to obliterate forever the 
principles of the immortal Declaration of Independence. But at 
last the long shadows of the evening of the weary day of strife drew 
o 'er the land. Once more the saber sought its scabbard, and the 
sword its sheath. With the springtide of 1865 came the angel of 
peace with healing in her wings, and God gave sweet rest to the 
tired Republic. 

From first to last the struggle had been an awful one. Aside from 
the contending forces of men, clad in their uniforms of blue and 
of gray, unseen powers, angels and demons, had been at work with 
all the intensity of their supernatural attributes. The Confederate 
States were humbled in the dust. In the North also there was deep 
sadness, for the fairest flowers of many homes lay sleeping 'neath 
the Southern sod; and the rustling of the grass as the winds with 
their invisible feet swept o'er the soldiers' sepulchers seemed only to 
make soft sighing in unison with the stifled and suppressed sobbing 
in many a Northern home where mothers, sisters, and sweethearts 
wept for the loved ones of whom they had been bereft. 

Nevertheless the dire contest had not been for naught. Tower- 
ing and grand, above the wrecks of war rose the principles over 
which it had been fought. For them, there had been a second bap- 
tism of blood, and in the crimson streams of that fearful strife the 
nation's record had been washed and made spotlessly white. In the 
innocence and strength which purity alone can beget, the United 
States once more went aloft upon her flagstaff, and gloriously rewrote 
on the folds of freedom's flag: "All men are created equal," and 
"Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the 

[31] 



32 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

governed." Many a people caught up the hallowed strain, and to 
thousands of oppressed, rent by the schisms caused by caste and 
class, the blessed words became but a prelude to the angel's song of 
peace on earth, good-will toward men. 

From the close of the Civil war until 1898 profound peace 
brooded over our land. Locked in the embraces of the great twin 
oceans, absolutely secure from foreign attack, we grew and pros- 
pered. A period of national felicity almost unparalleled in the 
history of nations was our happy lot. So long was the reign of 
tranquillity that our people had almost come to believe that war for 
them was a thing of the past. 

Nevertheless while Providence favored the United States with 
blessings innumerable, Cuba, the Pearl of the Antilles, torn, bleed- 
ing, and distracted by internecine strife, suffered travail untold 
almost beneath the shadows of our shores. As day by day the 
waves of the narrow strip of sea separating us from the unfortunate 
island, lashed and beat upon our coasts, throwing their silvery spray 
upon our sands and soil, it almost seemed as if old ocean were bearing 
on his crest, and throwing toward us from imploring hands, number- 
less tears, the distilled agony and anguish of the souls of our 
fellow men. 

The revolution just ended in Cuba began in 1895, but it was 
only the successor of other similar insurrections against the mon- 
archy of Spain which have before occurred in Cuba, These had 
extended over a period of nearly half a century. As a result, this 
fair and fertile island was lying desolate. If crops were planted, one 
or the other of the contending armies would destroy them before the 
time of reaping. To homes both haughty and humble the ruthless 
torch was applied, and an Eden was soon turned into a wilderness. 
The gaunt specter of famine stalked through the land, and pinching 
want did its dire work. Many were homeless, and thousands died 
for want of food. 

Little by little the efforts of Spain were increased. A terrible 
policy of devastation and concentration was inaugurated by the cap 
tain. general's bando of Oct. 21, 1896. The poor peasants of the 
lands were by this decree driven into the garrisoned towns, or to the 
wild and desolate places held by the throne of Madrid. Well has it 
been said that this was not civilized warfare, but only extermination; 



A WAR FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE. 33 

and that the only peace it could beget was that of the wilderness 
and the grave. 

Fitzhugh Lee, the American consul-general at Havana, in an 
enclosure with one of his despatches to the department of state, 
gives an awful pen-picture of the sufferings of this reconcentrado 
class, sufferings so terrible that they almost beggar description : — 

' ' The public rumor of the horrible state in which the reconcen- 
trados of the municipal council of Havana were found in the focos 
(ditches) having reached us, we resolved to pay a visit there, and we 
will relate to you what we saw with our own eyes : — 

' ' Four hundred and sixty women and children thrown on the 
ground, heaped pell-mell as animals, some in a dying condition, 
others sick, and others dead; without the slightest cleanliness, or 
the least help, not even to give water to the thirsty ; with neither 
religious nor social help, each one dying wherever chance laid him. 
For this limited number of reconcentrados the deaths ranged between 
forty and fifty daily, giving relatively ten days of life for each per- 
son, with great joy to the authorities, who seconded fanatically the 
policy of General Weyler to exterminate the Cuban people; for these 
unhappy creatures received food only after having been eight days 
in the focos, if during this time they could feed themselves with the 
bad food which the dying refused. 

' ' On this first visit we were present at the death of an old man 
who died through thirst. When we arrived, he begged us, for God's 
sake, to give him a drink. We looked for it, and gave it to him, and 
fifteen minutes afterward he breathed his last, not having had even 
a drink of water for three da} T s before. Among the many deaths 
we witnessed there was one scene impossible to forget. There is 
still alive the only living witness, a young girl of eighteen years, 
whom we found seemingly lifeless on the ground; on her right-hand 
side was the body of a young mother, cold and rigid, but with her 
young child still alive clinging to her dead breast; on her left-hand 
side was also the corpse of a dead woman holding her son in a dead 
embrace; a little farther on a poor dying woman having in her arms 
a daughter of fourteen, crazy with pain, who after five or six days 
also died, in spite of the care she received. 

' ' In one corner a poor woman was dying, surrounded by her 
children, who contemplated her in silence, without a lament or the 
3 



34 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

shedding of a tear, they themselves being real specters of hunger, 
emaciated in a horrible manner. This poor woman augments the 
catalogue, already large, of the victims of the reconcentration in 
the focos. 

' ' The relation of the pictures of misery and horror which we 
have witnessed would be never-ending were we to narrate them all. 

"It is difficult and almost impossible by writing to express the 
general aspect of the inmates of the focos, because it is entirely 
beyond the line of what civilized humanity is accustomed to see; 
therefore no language can describe it. 

"The circumstances which the municipal authorities could 
relieve there are the following: complete accumulation of bodies 
dead and living, so that it was impossible to take one step without 
walking over them ; the greatest want of cleanliness, want of light, 
air, and water; the food lacking in quality and quantity what was 
necessary to sustain life, thus sooner putting an end to these already 
broken-down systems; complete absence of medical assistance; and 
what is more terrible than all, no consolation whatever, religious 
or moral. 

' ' If any girl came in anywise nice looking, she was infallibly 
condemned to the most abominable of traffics. 

' ' At the sight of such horrible pictures, the two gentlemen who 
went there resolved, in spite of the ferocious Weyler, who was still 
captain- general of the island, to omit nothing to remedy a deed so 
dishonorable to humanity, and so contrary to all Christianity. They 
did not fail to find persons animated with like sentiments, who, 
putting aside all fear of the present situation, organized a private 
committee with the exclusive end of aiding materially and morally 
the reconcentrados. This neither has been nor is at present an easy 
task. The great number of the poor and the scarcity of means make 
us encounter constant conflicts. The conflict is more terrible with 
the official elements, and in a special manner with the maj-or of the 
city and the civil authorities, who try by all means to annihilate 
this good work. The results of the collections are very insignificant, 
if we bear in mind the thousands of people who suffer from the 
reconcentrations ; but it serves for some consolation to see that in 
Havana some one hundred and fifty-nine children and eighty-four 
women are well cared for in the asylum erected in Cadiz Street, No. 



A WAR FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE. 35 

82, and ninety-three women and children are equally well located in 
a large saloon erected for them in the second story of the focos, with 
good food and proper medical assistance, as also everything indis- 
pensable to civilized life. 

"According to the information which we have been able to 
acquire since August until the present day, one thousand seven 
hundred persons have entered the focos, proceeding from Jaruco, 
Campo Florido, Guanabo, and Tapaste, in the Province of Havana. 
Of these, only two hundred and forty- three are living now, and are 
to be found in Cadiz Street — eighty-two in the saloon already 
mentioned, and sixty-one in the Quinta del Roy and the Hospital 
Mercedes, the whole amounting to about three hundred and ninety- 
seven ; and of these a great many will die on account of the great 
sufferings and hunger they have gone through. 

' « From all this we deduce that the number of deaths among the 
reconcentrados has amounted to seventy-seven per cent." 1 

Could humans be called upon to suffer greater agonies than 
these? And it must be remembered that the above figures refer 
only to the conditions in the city of Havana, and that the death-rate 
there was only about fifty per cent of that in other places in the 
island; and when it is further borne in mind that there were several 
hundred thousands of these non-combatant reconcentrados, or pacifi- 
cos, mainly women and children concentrated under General Weyler's 
order, some idea can be formed of the mortality among them. 

In the Pinar del Rio Province there were at one time about forty 
thousand of these unfortunate reconcentrados. Of this number 
fifteen thousand were children, and the most of them orphans. To 
make matters worse, they were unequally distributed throughout the 
different towns in the province. In the capital city there were only 
four hundred and sixty, while in some of the small towns there were 
over four thousand. As the majority of the taxpayers in these towns 
had been ruined by the war, it was next to impossible to collect 
anything by means of imposts with which to care for this added 
burden. In many places food was so scarce that even cats were 
eaten, selling for thirty cents apiece. 

The relief offered by the authorities was relief in name only. 
On this point one United States consul wrote as follows : — 

i Enclosure with Despatch No. 712 from Mr. Lee to Mr. Day, Nov. 27, 1897. 



36 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

< • I have personally visited (on several occasions) head masters 
of distributing stations. Two thousand rations were given out for a 
few days only to eight thousand persons. . . . There are more than 
twelve thousand starving people in this city to-day. One out of 
four (or six) received the following ration : two ounces rice, one and 
one-half ounces tassajo (jerked beef), and sometimes a small 
piece of bread, per diem. Imagine starving people being relieved 
by such rations! Even this ration of food has been discontinued 
since the 11th inst. Death-rate has diminished somewhat; now 
about sixty-three daily. There are less people to die. 

< ' The scenes of misery and distress daily observed are beyond 
belief. Here is one out of hundreds. In a family of seventeen 
living in an old lime-kiln, upper part of city limits, all were found 
dead except three, and they barely alive." 2 

Still another United States consul wrote that in his district there 
was a starving, struggling mass, whose constant cry was, "Bread, 
or I perish.'' His consulate was besieged to an extent that blocked 
the entrance, and greatly retarded business. Men, women, and 
children, homeless and naked, roamed the streets; they begged of 
every one they met and at every door they passed, and at night they 
slept wherever they could find a spot upon which to lay their weary 
frames. 

Whence sprang this sorrow? Whence came such awful suffering? 
From whence this terrible mortality ? Why the thunder of artillery 
and the desolating rattle of the deadly Mauser? What hellish cause 
gave birth to this emaciated army of reconcentrados? Came they 
from catacomb or tomb? — Nay! From whence then? 

Go to the twilight of history for the answer. Turn back the 
U of time, and journey through the doctrines of the Dark Ages. 
Read upon the pages of the great ledger of things which have hap- 
pened under the sun, and there be enlightened. Yes, find it upon 
the records that God keeps with the nations. There it is charged 
to the account of those two theories that ' ' all men are not created 
equal, and governments do not derive their just powers from the 
consent of the governed." There is where it is written, and there it 
belongs. From these pernicious principles sprang the Cuban insur- 
rections. 



2 A. c lirico. United States consul, Matanzas, to Secretary of State Day, Dec. 
17, 1897. 



A WAR FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE. 37 

The people of Cuba pleaded for their inalienable rights and lib- 
erties. Spain was determined that they should not have them, and 
their pleas were met with mockings and with war. To the end that 
she might not enjoy her liberties and her rights, Spain made war 
upon her unfortunate and unhappy daughter. To prevent the 
peaceable enjoyment of these two things, Spain marshalled her 
armies and mobilized her fleets. In the defense of these evil doc- 
trines she spilled the blood of her sons, and sank her ships. But 
these efforts were like the final struggles of the man who vainly tries 
to chain the last fierce flicker of the spark of life. They were 
her death throes. 

It was during the height of the death grapple between mother 
and daughter that the voice of the American republic was heard in 
resolute tones. Impregnable in the rocky strength of the conviction 
that "all men are created equal," and that "governments derive 
their just powers from the consent of the governed," the people of 
the United States spoke forth. 

The declaration of war against the kingdom of Spain was 
adopted on the 18th of April, 1898, by a vote of 42 to 35 in the 
Senate, and 311 to 6 in the House. It clearly sets forth the policy 
of the government at that time : — 

' ' First. That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent. 

' ' Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and 
the government of the United States does hereby demand, that the 
government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and govern- 
ment in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces 
from Cuba and Cuban waters. 

' ' Third. That the president of the United States be, and he 
hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval 
forces of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the 
United States the militia of the several States, to such extent as 
may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect. 

• ' Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposi- 
tion or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over 
said islands, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its 
determination when that is accomplished to leave the government 
and control of the island to its people." 



38 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

This declaration of war is significant in itself. Its first resolu- 
tion clearly and forcibly voices the principles and sentiment of the 
Declaration of Independence. The one says, ' ' These United Colo- 
nies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States;" 
and the other asserts, ' < The people of the island of Cuba are, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent." 

Moreover the declaration of war demands that the Cubans shall 
be free and govern themselves, on the ground of right, when it 
states that the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought 
to be free and independent. In short, it demands freedom for the 
people of Cuba on the same ground that the fathers demanded free- 
dom for the people of these United States. 

When the resolutions were passed by Congress, the United States, 
to all appearances at least, rose above that selfishness to which 
nations are so prone. From the executive mansion, in Senate and 
House, on the platform, in the press, and even from out the Chris- 
tian pulpit, it was everywhere noised abroad that the war upon 
which the United States entered was wholly and solely "for 
humanity's sake." 

In his message to Congress, April 11, 1898, President Mc Kin- 
ley said: — 

" The grounds for such intervention maybe briefly summarized 
as follows : — 

< ( First. In the cause of humanity, and to put an end to the bar- 
barities, bloodshed, starvation, and horrible miseries now existing 
there, and which the parties to the conflict are either unable or 
unwilling to stop or mitigate. It is no answer to say this is all in 
another country, belonging to another nation, and is therefore none 
of our business. It is especially our duty, for it is right at our 
door. " 

Other nations declared that America had sinister designs. Such 
insinuations were repudiated with contempt. Daily was defiance 
hurled at all maligners. We boldly told the world that this was not 
a war for territorial aggrandizement; that we wanted nothing save 
only that a suffering people should go free. Even as late as last 
October, at the Peace Jubilee in Chicago, President Mc Kinley said: — 
' ' The war with Spain was undertaken, not that the United 
States should increase its territory, but that the oppression at our 



A WAR FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE. 39 

doors should be stopped. This noble sentiment must continue to 
animate us, and we must give to the world a full demonstration of 
the sincerity of our purpose." 

Continually and all the time we denied for ourselves, just as 
much as for others, the right to Cuban or any other soil, save only by 
and with the consent of the governed. The most forcible statement 
of this was by the chief magistrate of the Republic in his message 
to Congress of Dec. 6, 1897: — 

' ' Of the untried measures there remain only recognition of the 
insurgents as belligerents, recognition of the independence of Cuba, 
neutral intervention to end the war by imposing a rational compro- 
mise between the contestants, and intervention in favor of one or 
the other party. I speak not of forcible annexation, for that can 
not be thought of. That, by our code of morality, would be crimi- 
nal aggression." 

In these words a noble and thoroughly American principle is laid 
down. The idea of "forcible annexation " is expressly repudiated. 
And more than this, it is repudiated on the ground that ' ' by our 
code of morality [it] would be criminal aggression." But where is 
" our code of morality " ? In what part of that code is it declared 
that "forcible annexation " would be "criminal aggression"? 
What document contains it ? On what pages can it be found ? 
Once more the answer must be given that in the Declaration of 
Independence it is written, not only that ' < governments derive their 
just powers from the consent of the governed," but that these United 
States have ' ' full power to do all acts and things which independ- 
ent States may of right do." 

It was with these sacred principles burning upon every lip, flying 
from the peak of every ship of war, and floating upon the folds of 
all our battle standards, that we entered upon the contest with Spain 
"in the cause of humanity." 

In all of this the nation only reaffirmed the principles of the 
Declaration of Independence, and told to all mankind that still its 
holy fire kindled in our breasts; that now, as ever before, we 
believed these truths to be good for, and applicable to, not only 
ourselves, but all humanity. Not since the days of Rome, that 
other great republic of the West, had the world listened to such 
lofty and unselfish national sentiments. 



40 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Victory crowned our arms. It was everywhere the same. One 
harmonious strain of triumph pealed forth from Dewey on the whis- 
pering waters of Manila Bay, from the forces of Sampson, Schley, 
and Shafter at Santiago, and from the Rough Riders of Colonel 
Roosevelt at San Juan Hill. 

With the destruction of Admiral Montojo's fleet, and the annihi- 
lation of Cervera's squadron; with the surrender of Santiago, and 
the results of the heroism at San Juan, there came to an end the 
colonial system of a nation whose history is at once profoundly 
interesting and pregnant with instruction. To-day the death cer- 
tificate of Spain's colonial system stands signed; yea, even now that 
system is arraigned at history's bar. 



CHAPTER IV. 



A CHAPTER IN CRIMINAL HISTORY. 

Of the powers which rose upon the ashes of the empire of Rome, 
the kingdom of Spain was one. This people trace their lineage back 
to the woods of ancient Germania. In that vast cradle of nations 
they were known as the tribe of the Visigoths. Like all the other 
German tribes they were intensely fond of liberty, and knew far 
more of its true and governing principles than did the more highly 
educated and refined people of the Roman empire. 

When Rome had filled her cup of tyranny and despotism to the 
full, Providence took these barbarous children of the North, and 
used them as an instrument in the hand of Heaven to wreak ven- 
geance upon the guilty world-power. Under the leadership of the 
great chieftain, Alaric, the Visigoths everywhere defeated the 
Roman armies. By the year 436 a. d., they were established in 
. Lie peninsula of Spain. 

For a long time the Visigoths remained true to the Arian faith, to 
which they had been converted from heathenism. For years they 
maintained a sturdy and uncompromising warfare against the princes 
and prelates of the Roman Catholic Church, who left untried no 
strategy of war, or seductions of peace, to accomplish their con- 
version and submission to the see of Rome. 

Had the Visigoths persevered in their stand, they might have 
become the liberators, instead of the oppressors, of mankind. Both 
natural traits and religious tenets had admirably fitted them for this 
position. But the nation of Visigoths, like many a man, allowed 
the golden opportunity to pass by ; and the opportunity came but 
once. Neglecting to accept the high and lofty station offered them, 
they became instruments of the Roman Catholic Church. There is 
an ancient adage that a good slave always makes a good tyrant, and 
this has proved itself only too true in the case of the Spanish 
nation. 

The bait of luxury, ease, and power held out by Rome was too 
tempting ; and late in the sixth century they became orthodox, and 

[41] 



42 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

joined the Latin communion. Then began an era in the history of 
Spain, continuing through centuries, at times victorious and trium- 
phant, and at times repulsed and defeated, and whether in weal or 
in woe, ever and always criminal. The story of Spain, from first 
to last, is the record of a criminal case. Her history is naught but 
one prolonged crime. Forever has it been her boast that she has 
uncompromisingly denied freedom of conscience on the one hand, 
and equality before the law on the other. 

In the year 711 a. d., the Mohammedans sailed from Africa, 
and landed at Gibraltar, which notable rock took its present name 
— Gebel-al-Tarik, the Rock of Tarik — from Tarik, a lieutenant of 
the emir. A desperate struggle ensued, and continued for nearly 
eight centuries. At first victory after victory in rapid succession 
crowned the arms of the worshipers of Allah. At one time it 
almost looked as if the Spanish Catholics would be blotted from 
the face of the earth. A large part of the peninsula fell under the 
rule of the Saracens. At length the tide of battle turned. Malaga 
was taken by the Spaniards in 1487, and Granada in 1492, and this, 
in a certain sense, re-established the old Spanish monarchy. 

Christendom has never yet acknowledged her debt to the Sara- 
cens; but that much that is useful and artistic was acquired from 
them, can never be rightly contested nor successfully denied. During 
the time that they were masters of Spain they were lenient and 
merciful to their fallen foe. In the days of their power they 
accorded far more of civil and religious liberty and toleration than 
the orthodox church was wont to grant to those whom she subdued . 
To all who did net wish to turn to Mohammedanism, there was given 
the choice of paying a slight tribute and continuing as a devotee of 
their former faith. But few historians have correctly understood 
or estimated the real services of the Saracens of Spain to civilization 
and intellectual development. Only one has honestly accorded to 
them their just and well-won place. I refer to the impartial and 
ingenuous John W. Draper. He alone has graphically and truth- 
fully described their splendid achievements in material things: — 

' ' Scarcely had the Arabs become firmly settled in Spain when 
they commenced a brilliant career. Adopting what had now become 
the established policy of the commanders of the faithful in Asia, 
the emirs of Cordova distinguished themselves as patrons of learning, 



A CHAPTER IN CRIMINAL HISTORY. 43 

and set an example of refinement strongly contrasting with the con- 
dition of the native European princes. Cordova under their admin- 
istration, at its highest point of prosperity, boasted of more than 
two hundred thousand houses and more than a million inhabitants. 
After sunset, a man might walk through it in a straight line for ten 
miles by the light of the public lamps. Seven hundred years after 
this time there was not so much as one public lamp in London. Its 
streets were solidly paved. In Paris, centuries subsequently, who- 
ever stepped over his threshold of a rainy day stepped up to his 
ankles in mud. Other cities, as Grenada, Seville, and Toledo con- 
sidered themselves rivals with Cordova. The palaces of the khalifs 
were magnificently decorated. Those sovereigns might well look 
down with supercilious contempt on the dwellings of the rulers of 
Germany, France, and England, which were scarcely better than 
stables, — chimney less, windowless, with a hole in the roof for the 
smoke to escape, like the wigwams of certain Indians. The Spanish 
Mohammedans had brought with them all the luxuries and prodi- 
galities of Asia. Their residences stood forth against the clear blue 
sky, or were embosomed in the woods. They had polished marble 
balconies, overhanging orange-gardens; courts with cascades of 
water; shady retreats provocative of slumber in the heat of the day; 
retiring-rooms vaulted with stained glass, speckled with gold, over 
which streams of water were made to gush; the floors and walls 
were of exquisite mosaic. Here, a fountain of quicksilver shot up 
in a glistening spray, the glittering particles falling with a tranquil 
sound like fairy bells; there, apartments into which cool air was 
drawn from the flower gardens, in summer by means of ventilating 
towers, and in winter through earthen pipes, or caleducts, imbedded 
in the walls — the hypocaust, in the vaults below, breathing forth 
volumes of warmed and perfumed air through these hidden passages. 
The walls were not covered with wainscot, but adorned with ara- 
besques, and paintings of agricultural scenes, and views of Paradise. 
From the ceilings, corniced with fretted gold, great chandeliers 
hung, one of which, it is said, was so large that it contained 1,804 
lamps. Clusters of frail marble columns surprised the beholder 
with the vast weights they bore. In the boudoirs of the sultanas 
they were sometimes of verd antique and incrusted with lapis-lazuli. 
The furniture was of sandal and citron wood, inlaid with mother-of- 



44 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

pearl, ivory, silver, or relieved with gold and precious malachite. 
In orderly confusion were arranged vases of rock crystal, Chinese 
porcelains, and tables of exquisite mosaic. The winter apartments 
were hung with rich tapestry; the floors were covered with embroid- 
ered Persian carpets. Pillows and couches, of elegant forms, were 
scattered about the rooms, perfumed with frankincense. . . . Great 
care was taken to make due provision for the cleanliness and amuse- 
ment of the inmates. Through pipes of metal, water, both warm 
and 3old, to suit the season of the year, ran into baths of marble; in 
niches, where the current of air could be artificially directed, hung 
dripping alcarazzas. There were whispering-galleries for the amuse- 
ment of the women ; labyrinths and marble play-courts for the chil- 
dren; for the master himself, grand libraries. The Khalif Alha- 
kem's was so large that the catalogue alone filled forty volumes. 

' ' No nation has ever excelled the Spanish Arabs in the beauty 
and costliness of their pleasure- gardens. To them we owe the 
introduction of very many of our most valuable cultivated fruits, 
such as the peach. Retaining the love of their ancestors for the 
cooling effect of water in a hot climate, they spared no pains in the 
superfluity of fountains, hydraulic works, and artificial lakes in 
which fish were raised for the table. Into such a lake, attached to 
the palace at Cordova, many loaves were cast each day to feed the 
fish. There were also menageries of foreign animals; aviaries of 
rare birds; manufactories in which skilled workmen displayed their 
art in textures of silk, cotton, linen, and all the miracles of the 
loom; in jewelry and filigree work, with which they ministered to 
the pride of the sultanas and concubines. Under the shade of 
cypresses, cascades disappeared; among flowering shrubs there were 
winding walks, bowers of roses, seats cut out of the rock, and crypt- 
like grottoes hewn in the living stone. Nowhere was ornamental 
gardening better understood; for not only did the artist try to please 
the eye as it wandered over the pleasant gradation of vegetable 
color and form, he also boasted his success in the gratification of 
sense and smell by the studied succession of perfumes from beds of 
flowers. 

1 ' To these Saracens we are indebted for many of our personal 
comforts. Religiously cleanly, it was not possible for them to 
clothe themselves according to the fashion of the natives of Europe, 



A CHAPTER IN CRIMINAL HISTORY. 45 

in a garment unchanged till it dropped to pieces of itself, a loath- 
some mass of vermin, stench, and rags. No Arab who had been a 
minister of state, or the associate or antagonist of a sovereign, 
would have offered such a spectacle as the corpse of Thomas a 
Becket when his haircloth shirt was removed. They taught us the 
use of the often-changed and often-washed undergarment of cotton 
or linen, which still passes among ladies under its old Arabic name. 
But to cleanliness they were not unwilling to add ornament. Espe- 
cially among women of the higher classes was the love of finery a 
passion. Their outer garments were often of silk, embroidered and 
decorated with gems and woven gold. So fond were the Moorish 
women of gay colors and the luster of chrysolites, hyacinths, emeralds, 
and sapphires, that it was quaintly said that the interior of any 
public building in which they were permitted to appear, looked like 
a flower meadow in the spring besprinkled with rain. 

"The khalifs of the West carried out the precepts of Ali, the 
fourth successor of Mohammed, in the patronage of literature. 
They established libraries in all their chief towns; it is said that not 
fewer than seventy were in existence. To every mosque was 
attached a public school, in which the children of the poor were 
taught to read and write, and instructed in the precepts of the 
Koran. For those in easier circumstances there were academies, 
usually arranged in twenty-five or thirty apartments, each cata- 
logued for accommodating four students ; the academy being presided 
over by a rector. In Cordova, Granada, and other great cities there 
were universities presided over by the Jews, the Mohammedan 
maxim being that the real learning of a man is of more public im- 
portance than any particular religious opinions he may enter- 
tain. . . . The Mohammedan liberality was in striking contrast 
with the intolerance of Europe. ... In the universities some of 
the professors in polite literature gave lectures on Arabic classical 
works; others taught rhetoric or composition, or mathematics, or 
astronomy. From these institutions many of the practises observed 
in our colleges were derived. They held commencements, at which 
poems were read and orations delivered in presence of the public. 
They had also, in addition to these schools of general learning, 
professional ones, particularly for medicine. . . . 

« ' The Saracens commenced the application of chemistry to the 



46 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

theory and practise of medicine, in the explanation of the functions 
of the human body, and in the cure of its diseases. Nor was their 
surgery behind their medicine. Albucasis, of Cordova, shrinks not 
from the performance of the most formidable operations in his own 
and in the obstetrical art ; the actual cautery and the knife are 
used without hesitation. He has left us ample description of the 
surgical instruments then employed; and from him we learn that, 
in operations on females in which considerations of delicacy inter- 
vened, the services of properly instructed women were secured. 
How different was all this from the state of things in Europe; the 
Christian peasant, fever-stricken, or overtaken by accident, hied 
to the nearest saint-shrine, and expected a miracle; the Spanish Moor 
relied upon the prescription or lancet of his physician, or the band- 
age and knife of his surgeon. 

" Our obligations to the Spanish Moors in the arts of life are 
even more marked than in the higher branches of science. They 
set an example of skilful agriculture, the practise of which was 
regulated by a code of laws. Not only did they attend to the culti- 
vation of plants, introducing very many new ones, they likewise paid 
great attention to the breeding of cattle, especially the sheep and 
the horse. To them we owe the introduction of the great products, 
rice, sugar, cotton, and also, as we have previously observed, 
nearly all the fine garden and orchard fruits, together with many 
less important plants, as spinach and saffron. To them Spain owes 
the culture of silk; they gave to Xeres and Malaga their celebrity 
for wine. They introduced the Egyptian system of irrigation by 
flood-gates, wheels, pumps. They also promoted many important 
branches of industry; improved the manufacture of textile fabrics, 
earthenware, iron, and steel; the Toledo sword-blades were every- 
where prized for the temper of their steel. " 

Such were some of the splendid achievements of the Saracens of 
Spain. Many more of the material benefits which they conferred 
upon Christendom might be mentioned, but the above will suffice 
for this sketch, which is not designed to be exhaustive. These are 
the things with which the Saracens occupied themselves, while 
Christendom sat in squalor and superstition. While Rome was 
asserting the flatness of the earth, the Spanish Moors were teaching 
geography from globes. To say that the earth was globular in form 



A CHAPTER IN CRIMINAL HISTORY. 47 

was held to be heretical by monks and patristic teachers. They 
said in the words of Lactantius : " Is it possible that men can be so 
absurd as to believe that the crops and the trees, on the other side 
of the earth, hang downward, and that men have their feet higher 
than their heads?" They taught that the edge of the sea was pro- 
tected by a wall of weeds in order to keep the ships from tumbling 
into space. While the Arab was studying physiology and the use 
of the lancet, in order that he might the better treat disease, the 
Christian of the West was prostrating himself before the shrine of 
some bleeding, sweating, winking image, with the hope and expec- 
tation that the doing of this would cause his bodily woes to vanish. 
If a pious Catholic could only kiss a lock of the hair of Saint 
Peter or a piece of a bone of Saint Paul, he would confidently 
expect that his diseases would disappear like frost before the 
morning sun. 

But the learning of the Arabs really forced Christendom to cast 
aside its superstition, and to study in a rational way. The Arabian 
system was undoubtedly one of the chief causes of the Renaissance. 
And the lasting benefits which the Saracens conferred upon Europe 
can be clearly traced, even at the present time. 

It made no difference to the Spanish Christians, however, how 
much the Saracens were the benefiters of mankind. They were 
heathen, and must be persecuted for that; and being heathen, they 
had no equal rights with others before even the civil law. With the 
Spaniards these were cardinal principles. There were no real and 
substantial grounds of complaint against the Saracens as competitors 
and neighbors. They differed from the Spaniards in religion. This 
was the only thing that could be said against them. They were 
kind, industrious, and peaceful; but all of this availed them noth- 
ing. Spain could not and would not allow the principle of freedom 
of conscience and of equality before the law. 

At first the Spaniards attempted to convert the Saracens to their 
own religion. Exhortations and arguments were the first weapons, 
but when these means failed, she had resource to other means ; viz. , 
she persecuted those whom she was unable to persuade. This 
method seemed to be more successful, since we are told by good 
authority that after the year 1526 "there was no Mohammedan in 
Spain who had not been converted to Christianity." That is to say, 



48 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

in other language, that every Mohammedan in Spain professed to be 
a papist. 

Some, however, were difficult subjects for conversion. They ' 
would not willingly submit to be baptized. The water might be 
" holy," but holy or unholy, they wanted none of jt. Nevertheless, 
baptized they must be, so they were forcibly seized, and the ordi- 
nance was forcibly administered. This was done in an immense 
number of cases. Then the church and state united, proceeded to 
doubt the genuineness of their forced conversion, and began to 
inquire into their sincerity. They were ordered to relinquish every- 
thing that might have the most remote tendency to remind them of 
their former religion. They were forced, under severe penalties, to 
learn Spanish, and to deliver over to their persecutors all their 
Arabic books. They were forbidden to read Arabic, they were for- 
bidden to write it, or even to converse in it in the sanctuary of their 
own homes. The ceremonies and games in which their ancestors 
had delighted were forbidden them. They were prohibited from 
wearing clothes of the same pattern as those worn by their fathers. 
"Their women were to go unveiled; and, as bathing was a heathenish 
custom, all public baths were to be destroyed, and even all baths in 
private houses." 

All of this was more than Saracenic flesh and blood could stand. 
In 1563 they rose in rebellion, and so desperately did their arms 
maintain the unequal contest that it was 1571 ere the insurrection 
was quelled. By this rising, their numbers were greatly reduced. 
The remnant appear to have lapsed into the quiet, every-day walks 
of life. But the Spaniards were not satisfied yet. The obnoxious 
Morisco, as these converted Mohammedans were termed, must be 
pursued to the grave with torture and civil disability, and even 
beyond that portal of darkness as far as the unrelenting hand could 
reach. 

Whatever ills befell the arms or diplomacy of Spain were charged 
to the account of these unfortunates: — 

"The archbishop of Valencia . . . assured the king that all the 
disasters which had befallen the monarchy had been caused by the 
presence of these unbelievers, whom it was now necessary to root 
out, even as David had done to the Philistines, and Saul to the 
Amalekites. He declared that the Armada, which Philip II sent 



A CHAPTER IN CRIMINAL HISTORY. 49 

against England in 1588, had been destroyed because God would not 
allow even that pious enterprise to succeed, while those who under- 
took it left heretics undisturbed at home. For the same reason the 
late expedition against Algiers had failed, it being evidently the will 
of Heaven that nothing should prosper while Spain was inhabited by 
apostates." * 

For these reasons, it was urged that the whole of them, men 
women, and children, should be put to the sword: — 

"Bleda, the celebrated Dominican, one of the most influential 
men of his time, wished this to be done, and to be done thoroughly. 
He said that, for the sake of example, every Morisco in Spain 
should have his throat cut, because it was impossible to tell which 
of them were Christians at heart, and it was enough to leave the 
matter to God, who knew his own, and who would reward in the 
next world those who were really Catholics." 2 

In the j'ear 1609, when Philip III was king, Lerma, his minister, 
at the instigation of the clergy, announced to the king that the 
expulsion of the Moriscos had become necessary. "The resolu- 
tion," replied Philip, "is a great one; let it be executed." And 
executed it was, with unflinching barbarity. 

" About one million of the most industrious inhabitants of Spain 
were hunted out like wild beasts, because the sincerity of their 
religious opinions was doubted. Many were slain as they approached 
the coast; others were beaten and plundered; and the majority in 
the most wretched plight, sailed for Africa. During the passage, 
the crew, in many of the ships, rose upon them, butchered the men, 
ravished the women, and threw the children into the sea. Those 
who escaped this fate landed upon the coast of Barbary, when they 
were attacked by the Bedouins, and many of them put to the sword. 
Others made their way into the desert, and perished from famine. 
Of the number of lives actually sacrificed we have no accurate 
account; but it is said on very good authority that on one expedi- 
tion in which one hundred and forty thousand were carried to Africa, 
upward of one hundred thousand suffered death in its most fright- 
ful forms, within a few months after their expulsion from Spain." ' 



i Buckle's " History of OivilizatioD in England," Vol. II, chap. 1. par. 36. 
2 Ibid., par. 37. 
a Ibid., par. 38. 

4 



50 THE TERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

"Now, for the first time, the church was really triumphant. 
For the first time, there was not a heretic to be seen between the 
Pyrenees and the Strait of Gibraltar. All were orthodox, and all 
were loyal. Every inhabitant of that great country obeyed the 
church, and feared the king. And from this happy combination, it 
was believed that the prosperity and grandeur of Spain were sure to 
follow. The name of Philip III was to be immortal, and posterity 
would never weary of admiring that heroic act by which the last 
remains of an infidel race were cast out from the land. Those who 
had even remotely participated in the glorious consummation were 
to be rewarded by the choicest blessings. Themselves and their 
families were under the immediate protection of heaven. The earth 
should bear more fruit, and the trees should clap their hands. 
Instead of the thorn, should come up the fir-tree, and instead of the 
brier, the myrtle. A new era was now inaugurated, in which Spain, 
purged of her heresy, was to be at ease, and men, living in safety, 
were to sleep under the shade of their own vineyards, sow their 
gardens in peace, and eat of the fruit of the trees they had planted." 
These were the promises which the united church and state held 
out, and which the people believed. It was told how that now the 
arts, the commerce, the wealth, and magnificence of Spain would 
flourish and increase as never before, since heretical Jew, and idola- 
trous Mohammedan had been cast out of the land. Her ships were 
to plow the seas, and crowd the ports of other shores. Her soldiers 
were to wreath themselves with laurels of victory till the sun should 
never set on her dominions, and all earth should do homage at the 
feet of her scepter of greatness. 

Bat 1G13, instead of being the beginning of the greatness and 
power of Spain, was the apex of her glory, and that glory was one 
of infamy. In that boasted hour of her might — all heretics dead 
or driven out — can be heard, even at this late day, the death knell 
of her prestige and glory. Prom that day forth her glory began to 
wane, till naught is left to-day, save the mistiest shade of a shadow. 
The kingdom of Spain had driven out the men who cultivated her 
rice and her cotton, and not being cultivated, they grew no more. 
She had expelled from her borders those who had manufactured her 
silk and paper, and the ceaseless humming of the looms and buzz- 
ing of the mills no longer reverberated upon the breezes. The 



A CHAPTER IN CRIMINAL HISTORY. 51 

olives and the vines ceased to yield their increase, for they were 
neglected. 

' ' In the sixteenth century and early in the seventeenth, Spain 
enjoyed great repute for the manufacture of gloves, which were 
made in enormous quantities and shipped to many parts, being par- 
ticularly valued in England and in France, and being also exported 
to the Indies. But Martinez de Mata, who wrote in the year 1655, 
assures us that at that time this source of wealth had disappeared, 
the manufacture of gloves having quite ceased, though formerly, he 
says, it had existed in every city in Spain. 

"In every department all power and life disappeared. The 
Spanish troops were defeated at Rocroy in 1643; and several writers 
ascribe to that battle the destruction of the military reputation of 
Spain. This, however, was only one of many symptoms. In 1656 it 
was proposed to fit out a small fleet; but the fisheries on the coasts 
had so declined that it was found impossible to find sailors enough 
to man even the few ships which were required. The charts which 
had been made were either lost or neglected, and the ignorance of 
the Spanish pilots became so notorious that no one was willing to 
trust them. As to the military service, it is stated, in an account 
of Spain late in the seventeenth century, that most of the troops 
had deserted their colors, and that the few who were faithful were 
clothed in rags, and were dying of hunger. Another account 
describes that once mighty kingdom as utterly unprotected; the 
frontier towns ungarrisoned ; the fortifications dilapidated and crum- 
bling away, the magazines without ammunition, the arsenals empty, 
the workshops unemployed, and even the art of building ships 
entirely lost." * 

This is only one chapter in the history of Spain, but if it is not 
criminal history, bearing its legitimate mark, then none has ever 
been enacted. 



* Ibid., pars. 42-44. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE SPANISH INQUISITION. 

One of the greatest grievances held by the Cubans and Filipinos 
against the kingdom of Spain was the extortion practised by the 
Spanish Roman Catholic clergy and monks. The people continually 
groaned under the weight of the ecclesiastical taxes. They con- 
stantly complained that it was absolutely unjust to compel them to 
support a religion, no matter whether they believed in that religion 
or not. In all of the islands recently wrested from the throne of 
Madrid, this was one of the main causes of dissatisfaction and insur- 
rection. In the Philippines, in many cases and places the followers 
of Aguinaldo were ready to release the Spanish soldiers who had 
been taken prisoners of war; but in almost every instance they have 
manifested a most determined purpose to retain the friars in bonds. 
They have even threatened to butcher them in a wholesale manner. 

This policy of extortion for ecclesiastical purposes has been long 
in vogue with the government of Spain, and to a large degree it has 
led to the stripping her of her foreign possessions. In fact, the 
theory upon which Spain's colonial system has been based, is that 
dependencies and foreign peoples under her control are a kind of 
property, or farm, from which a revenue for the benefit of the home 
country and the state church should of right be drawn. 

The Spanish government first originated this policy in its treat- 
ment of the Jews, and the Inquisition was invented to carry it into 
execution. The story is intensely interesting, and well worthy of 
consideration here, as it marks the beginning of a piece of sowing 
from which Spain has just reaped the last instalment of the harvest 
of loss. 

The kingdom and church of Spain have always professed to find 
in Holy Writ precedent for all their doctrines and practises. I do 
not say that Holy Writ contains precedent for their doctrines and 
practises; but simply aver that they think they find them there. 

The Inquisition is one of the most diabolically gross abuses that 
[52] 



THE SPANISH INQUISITION. 53 

ever disgraced the name of humanity. Nevertheless the Spanish 
writers rest the authority of this infamous tribunal upon the Word 
of God. 

According to a well-known Roman Catholic historian, God him- 
self was the first inquisitor-general. In the death penalty announced 
to Adam and Eve, < ' In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt 
surely die" (Gen. 2:17), precedent is found for inflicting capital 
punishment on heretics, because our first parents were heretics, — 
they had left the true faith. Again, the Lord turned them out of 
the garden of Eden; this was the confiscation of the property of 
heretics. Thirdly, the Almighty made them ' ' coats of skins, and 
clothed them." Gen. 3: 21. This was the model of the san benito. 1 
The san benitos were coarse woolen garments, in which the heretic 
was arrayed for the auto da fe, the name given to the ceremony 
accompanying the burning of the victims. These garments were 
brought close round the neck, and descended like a frock down 
to the knees. They were of a yellow color, embroidered with a 
cross, and well garnished with figures of devils and flames of fire, 
which, typical of the heretic's destiny hereafter, served to make him 
more odious in the eyes of the superstitious multitude. In certain 
cases the garment was also adorned with the picture of the wearer, 
burning in flames, with several figures of dragons and devils in the 
act of fanning them. 2 

The Inquisition has existed in principle ever since the fourth 
century, when Christianity became the established religion of the 
Roman empire; but acts of intolerance do not seem to have flowed 
from any systematized plan of persecution until the papal authority 
had risen to a considerable height. 

Inquisitorial missions were first sent out by Pope Innocent III, 
1210-1215, against the Albigenses, who dwelt under the shadow of 
the lofty Pyrenees in southern France. They were a most peaceable 
and polished people, and the only national crime of which they had 
ever been guilty was that of rejecting with shrinking horror the 
doctrines and practises of the Roman Catholic Church, whose clergy 
was regarded with loathing and contempt. "Viler than a priest," 

iSee Paramo, "Origin of the Inquisition," book 1, chaps. 1-3. 

2 See Prescott, "History of Ferdinand and Isabella," part 1, chap. 7, par. 34. 
Also D. Antonio Puighblanch, translated by Walton, " Inquisition Unmasked," 
chap 4. 



54 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

and "I would as soon be a priest," became proverbial expressions. 
"The papacy had lost all authority with all classes, from the great 
feudal princes down to the cultivators of the soil." How beautiful 
their land, how elegant their manners, how advanced, for that bar- 
barous age, their scientific research, how cruel their extermination, 
the pen of Lord Macaulay has perfectly delineated! 

In the year 1480, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, 
the holy office was established in Spain. It was inaugurated for the 
benefit of the Jews, not primarily because they were heretics, but 
because they were wealthy, and Rome and Spain needed money. 
This is a serious charge, but nevertheless a true one, and one which 
can be easily and clearly sustained. 

These unfortunate members of the race of Israel were not only 
wealthy, but they had gradually risen in political eminence until 
they were the incumbents of the highest civil offices. They made 
great advancement in various departments of letters. The schools 
of Cordova, Toledo, Barcelona, and Grenada were crowded with 
students. It was the Jews and the Arabs who kept alive the flame 
of learning during the mythological gloom of the Middle Ages. 
They frequently resided at the courts of Catholic princes as minis- 
ters of finance, situations which they were eminently qualified to fill. 
But royal patronage proved incompetent to save them from 
the bloody hand of the state church, when their ' < flourishing for- 
tunes had risen to a sufficient height " to excite her envy. I quote 
from Prescott: — 

' ' Stories were circulated of their contempt for the Catholic wor- 
ship, their desecration of the most holy symbols, and of their cruci- 
fixion, or other sacrifice, of Christian children at the celebration of 
their own Passover. ... At length toward the close of the four- 
teenth century the fanatical populace, stimulated in many instances 
by the no less fanatical clergy, and perhaps encouraged by the 
numerous class of debtors to the Jews, who found this a convenient 
mode of settling their accounts, made a fierce assault on this unfor- 
tunate people in Castile and Arragon, breaking into their houses, 
violating their most private sanctuaries, scattering their most costly 
collections and furniture, and consigning the wretched proprietors 
to indiscriminate massacre, without regard to sex or age." s 

a Prescott, " History of Ferdinand and Isabella." 



THE SPANISH INQUISITION. 55 

On account of this barbarous treatment many of the Spanish 
Jews feigned conversion to Christianity. Such was their spiritual 
condition when Ferdinand and Isabella assumed the reins of govern- 
ment. During their reign complaints against Jewish heresy became 
more and more frequent, and the throne was repeatedly beset with 
petitions to devise some means for its extirpation. The words of the 
curate of Los Palacios, who lived at this time, throw considerable 
light on < ' the real as well as pretended motives of the subsequent 
persecution " : — 

' ' This accursed race were either unwilling to bring their children 
to be baptized, or, if they did, they washed away the stain on 
returning home. They dressed their stews and other dishes with 
oil instead of lard; abstained from pork; kept the Passover, ate 
meat in Lent; and sent oil to replenish the lamps in their syna- 
gogues, with many other abominable ceremonies of their religion. 
. . . They were an exceeding polite and ambitious people engrossing 
the most lucrative municipal offices." 

No wonder Prescott remarks, after quoting the above : — 

" It is easy to discern in this medley of credulity and supersti- 
tion the secret envy entertained by the Castilians of the superior 
skill and industry of their Hebrew brethren, and of the superior 
riches which these qualities secured to them; and it is impossible 
not to suspect that the zeal of the most orthodox was considerably 
sharpened by worldly motives. . . . Ferdinand listened with com- 
placency to a scheme which promised an ample source of revenue in 
the confiscations it involved. * 

To Isabella's honor be it spoken, frequent importunities on the 
part of the clergy were necessary before she yielded her consent to 
having the Inquisition established in her dominions. But at last 
she gave way. 

< ' Sixtus the Fourth, who at that time filled the pontifical chair, 
easily discerning the sources of wealth and influence which this 
measure [the establishment of the Inquisition in Spain] opened to 
the court of Rome, readily complied with the petitions of the sov- 
ereigns, and expedited a bull, bearing date Nov. 1, 1478, authorizing 
them to appoint two or three ecclesiastics, inquisitors for the detec- 
tion and suppression of heresy throughout their dominions." 6 

* Ibid., part 1, chap. 7, pars. 16, 17. e ibid., par. 21. 



56 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1492, issued a decree expelling from 
Spain every Jew who did not deny his faith, so that the soil of 
Spain might be no longer polluted by ths presence of unbelievers. 
To make them Christians, or failing in this, to exterminate them, 
was the business of the Inquisition. 

Of course many of the Jews declared, when the terrible words 
which constituted the form of arrest, u Deliver yourself up a pris- 
oner to the Inquisition!" were whispered in their ear, that they 
were not Jews, but Catholics. It then became necessary to prove 
that they were Jews. Here are some of the points by means of 
which the charge of Judaism was established among them : — 

' ' It was considered good evidence of the fact if the prisoner 
wore better clothes or cleaner linen on the Jewish Sabbath than on 
any other day of the week; if he had no fire in his house the pre- 
ceding evening; if he sat at table with Jews, or ate the meat of 
animals slaughtered by their hands, or drank a certain beverage 
held in much estimation by them; if he washed a corpse in warm 
water, or when dying turned his face to the wall; or, finally, if he 
gave Hebrew names to his children, a provision most whimsically 
cruel, since, by a law of Henry II he was prohibited under severe 
penalties from giving them Christian names. He must have found 
it difficult to have extricated himself from the horns of this dilemma. 
Such are a few of the circumstances, some of them purely acciden- 
tal in their nature, others the result of early habit, which might 
well have continued after a sincere conversion to Christianity, and 
all of them trivial, on which capital accusations were to be alleged, 
and even satisfactorily established." 6 

I give this quotation from Llorente, as he is a writer most com- 
petent to unveil the hidden mysteries of the Inquisition. He was 
secretary to that tribunal in Madrid from 1790-1792. He devoted 
several years to a thorough investigation of the records of the tribu- 
nals, as well as of other original documents contained in their 
archives. 

It will therefore be now in place to relate some of those secret 
workings, and to relate how its victims were accused, condemned, 
and tortured. 

To presume the innocence of the prisoner until his guilt has 
« Llorente, " History of the Inquisition." Vol. I, pp. 153-159. 



THE SPANISH INQUISITION. 57 

been established, is an axiom of justice accepted by all true jurists. 
The Inquisition, however, instead of granting to the prisoner the 
protection afforded by every other judicature, and especially 
demanded by his forlorn situation, acted upon the opposite princi- 
ple, and used the most insidious arts to circumvent and surround 
all who came within its fearful grasp. Says Prescott: — 

' ' The accused, . . . whose mysterious disappearance was per- 
haps the only public evidence of his arrest, was conveyed to the 
secret chambers of the Inquisition, where he was jealously excluded 
from intercourse with all, save a priest of the Romish Church, and 
his jailer, both of whom might be regarded as the spies of the tribu- 
nal. In this desolate condition the unfortunate man, cut off from 
external communication and all cheering sympathy and support, was 
kept for some time in ignorance even of the nature of the charges 
preferred against him; and at length, instead of the original process, 
was favored only with extracts from the deposition of the witnesses, 
so garbled as to conceal every possible clue to their name and 
quality. With still greater unfairness no mention whatever was 
made of such testimony as had arisen in the course of the examina- 
tion in his own favor. Counsel was indeed allowed him from a list 
presented by his judges. But this privilege availed little, since the 
parties were not permitted to confer together, and the advocate was 
furnished with no other information than what had been granted to 
his client. To add to the injustice of these proceedings, every 
discrepancy in the statements of the witnesses was converted into a 
separate charge against the prisoner, who thus, instead of one crime, 
stood accused of several. This, taken in connection with the con- 
cealment of time, place, and circumstance in the accusations, 
created such embarrassment that, unless the accused was possessed 
of unusual acuteness and presence of mind, it was sure to involve 
him, in his attempt to explain, in inextricable contradiction. 

1 ' If the prisoner refused to confess his guilt, or, as was usual, 
was suspected of evasion, or an attempt to conceal the truth, he was 
subjected to torture. This, which was administered in the deepest 
vaults of the Inquisition, where the cries of the victim could fall on 
no ear save that of his tormentors, is admitted by the secretary of 
the holy office, who has furnished the most accurate report of its 
transactions, not to have been exaggerated in any of the numerous 



58 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

narratives which have dragged these subterranean horrors into light. 
If the intensity of pain extorted a confession from the sufferer, he 
was expected, if he should survive, to sustain it on the next day. 
Should he refuse to do this, his mutilated members were condemned 
to a repetition of the same sufferings, until his obstinacy (it should 
rather have been termed his heroism) might be vanquished." 7 

" By a subsequent regulation of Philip II, the repetition of tor- 
ture in the same process was strictly prohibited to the inquisitors. 
But they, making use of a sophism worthy of the arch-fiend him- 
self, contrived to evade this law, by pretending after each new ap- 
plication of punishment, that they had only suspended and not 
terminated the torture." 8 

" Should the rack, however, prove ineffectual to force a confes- 
sion of his guilt, he was so far from being considered as having 
established his innocence that, with a barbarity unknown to any 
tribunal where torture has been admitted, and which of itself proves 
its utter incompetency to the end it proposes, he was not unfre- 
queutly convicted on the depositions of the witnesses. At the 
conclusion of his mock trial, the prisoner was again returned to his 
dungeon, where, without the blaze of a single faggot to dispel the 
cold or illuminate the darkness of the long winter night, he was left 
in unbroken silence to await the doom which was to consign him to 
an ignominious death, or a life scarcely less ignominious." 9 

To add to the discomfiture of the victims, the three men who sat 
as judges in the inquisitorial courts were almost invariably chosen 
from the most ignorant. Says Puighblanch : — 

"Even the common people, amidst the illusion in which they 
lived under the yoke of this tribunal, at length became sensible of 
the great ignorance which prevailed in its dark conclaves. This is 
proved by the following saying to be met in the mouths of every 
one : — 

" Question — What constituted the Inquisition? 

"Answer — One crucifix, two candlesticks, and three block- 
heads, alluding to the form and parade of its sittings, and the 
number of the judges present thereat." 10 

' Prescott, Ibid . cbap. 7, pars. 30, 31. 

e Llorente, Ibid., Vol. I, chap. 9, art. 7. 

o Prescott, [bid. 

io " Inquisition Unmasked," cbap. 4, par. 7, note. 



THE SPANISH INQUISITION. 59 

The culprit was obliged to declare bis whole genealogy and 
descent, and to state whether any of his ancestors, in a direct or 
transversal line, or his brothers, wife, children, or, indeed, himself, 
had at any time previously been arraigned before the tribunal, and 
penanced by it. The real object of all this was to obtain possession 
of the property he might have inherited, by declaring the right of 
succession null and void. 

There were three kinds of torture generally used by the Inquisi- 
tion; viz., the pulley, the rack, and the fire. The apartment in 
which these were inflicted was underground, and was called the hall 
of torture. 

The first of these three modes of punishment was inflicted by 
fastening a pulley, with a rope passed through it, to the roof. The 
executioners would then seize the culprit, shackle his feet together, 
and suspend weights of one hundred pounds to his ankles. His 
hands were bound behind his back, and the rope from the pulley 
fastened to his wrists. He was then raised about six feet from the 
ground, and twelve stripes were inflicted upon him. After this he 
was let down with a run, but checked just before either of his feet 
or the weights should touch the floor, in order to render the shock 
to his body greater. 

The torture of the rack, also called that of water and ropes, was 
a common one. The victim, divested of his clothing, was stretched 
upon his back along a hollow bench with sticks across like a ladder, 
and prepared for the purpose. To this his head, hands, and feet 
were bound so tightly that he could not move. In this position he 
experienced eight strong contortions in his limbs; viz., two on the 
fleshy parts of the arm above the elbow, two below the elbow, two on 
the thighs, and two on the legs. Sometimes also his face was 
covered with a thin piece of linen, through which seven pints of 
water ran into his mouth and nostrils, preventing him from breathing 

But the torture by fire was the most revolting of all. The 
prisoner was placed with his legs naked in the stocks, the soles of 
his feet well greased with lard, and a blazing chafing-dish applied to 
them, by the heat of which they became perfectly fried " 

Now all of these tortures and inhuman barbarities were com- 



11 These facts are gathered mainly from Puighblanch, translated by Walton, 
" Inquisition Unmasked," chap. 4, par. 7, note. 



60 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

mitted in defense of those two theories that there should not be 
freedom of conscience, and that men are not equal before the law. 
They were committed for the purpose of wringing money from the 
inferior race (if inferior it can be termed) for the support of the su- 
perior. I can not believe that originally the Spaniards were more 
cruel or inhuman than the rest of mankind. It is certain that we 
are all of one blood, and all born in sin. But the manifestation of 
such awful cruelties by the Spaniards was brought about by follow- 
ing a wrong theory. 

The people of Cuba and of the Philippine Islands were op- 
pressed for precisely the same reasons that the Jews of Spain were 
oppressed so many years ago. As a result of the first persecutions, 
the Jews left, and were driven out of Spain. But as a result of 
the second, the Spanish were driven out of the Philippines, and out 
of Cuba; for in this latter time the cup of her iniquity was full, 
and her punishment was decreed from above. 



CHAPTER VI. 



" THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD." 

The dealings of Spain with Holland and the Netherlands are 
dyed in stains of deepest crimson. This chapter in the history 
of Spain is a tragedy of the most dreadful type. During the few 
short years in which this dependency of the Spanish crown struggled 
for freedom, crimes, monumental in their proportions and unnum- 
bered for their multitude stand registered against the government 
and warfare of Spain. 

Of all the people of Europe, none were more brave than the 
Hollanders. To an unparalleled degree they were tenacious of 
liberty, both in things civil and in things religious. From time to 
time during their history they had wrested valuable charters of 
freedom from their masters. These had been won at great cost 
of blood and treasure, and at all times their owners showed a dis- 
position to cling to them firmly. From the earliest days of their 
history, sovereignty had resided in the great assembly of the people, 
and this same assembly elected the village magistrates, and decided 
upon all matters of great importance. The government may have 
been a fierce democracy, but it was a democracy nevertheless. 

At length, however, Holland fell under the rule of Spain; and 
with the advent to the throne of Charles V. of Reformation fame, 
ill times began for the little land. This monarch made continued 
effort to drain their treasure, and to hamper their industry. He 
hated their ancient and dearly bought civil liberties, and did all in 
his power to restrict and overthrow them. The Netherlands at this 
time were divided into seventeen distinct and separate provinces; 
but this prince was determined to construct them into one kingdom, 
in order that he might rule them the more effectually with the iron 
hand of absolutism. 1 



i The historical facts of this chapter are gathered mainly from Motley's " His- 
tory of the Dutch Republic." I have not in all cases given the exact reference. It 
will be understood, however, that uncredited quotations are from his great work. 

[61] 



62 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

His hand it was that planted the Inquisition in the Netherlands. 
For reading the Scriptures, f or looking irreverently at a graven 
image, for even daring to hint that the actual body and blood of 
Jesus Christ was not present in the consecrated wafer, from fifty to 
one hundred thousand Dutch perished according to his edicts. Well 
has Motley said that his "name deserves to be handed down to 
eternal infamy, not only throughout the Netherlands, but in every 
land where a single heart beats for political or religious freedom." 

But even in this life his crimes went not unpunished. ' ' While 
he was preparing to crush, forever, the Protestant Church, with the 
arms which a bench of bishops were forging, lo, the rapid and des- 
perate Maurice, with long red beard streaming like a meteor in the 
wind, dashing through the mountain passes, at the head of his lan- 
cers — arguments more convincing than all the dogmas of Granville! 
Disguised as an old woman, the emperor had attempted, on the 6th 
of April, to escape in a peasant's wagon from Innspruck into Flan- 
ders. Saved for the time by the mediation of Ferdinand, he had, a 
few weeks later, after his troops had been defeated by Maurice at 
Fussen, again fled at midnight of the 22d of May, 1555, almost 
unattended, sick in body and soul, in the midst of thunder, light- 
ning, and rain, along the difficult Alpine passes from Innspruck into 
Carinthia." Sad end indeed was this to all his greatness. Sick and 
tired of life, on the 25th of October, 1555, he abdicated the throne, 
and went to spend the rest of his life within the walls of a monas- 
tery. < ' This was a fitting end for a monarch who all his life had 
been false as water, who never possessed a lofty thought, or enter- 
tained a noble or generous sentiment." 

He was succeeded in Spain and the Netherlands by Philip II, 
who married Bloody Mary of England. The tastes of these two cer- 
tainly ran in the same direction. " To maintain the supremacy of 
the Church seemed to both of them the main object of existence; to 
execute unbelievers, the most sacred duty imposed by the Deity upon 
anointed princes; to convert their kingdom into a hell, the surest 
means of winning heaven for themselves." Philip hated the Chris- 
tian heretic with a more venemous hatred than any of his ancestors 
had ever manifested toward Jew or Moor. Yet in spite of all this 
pretended piety, he was so grossly licentious that his liaisons are the 
scandal of the annals of his state. 



"THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD." 63 

For national and popular rights he had a loathing which he 
never attempted to disguise. For the people itself, — "that vile 
and mischievous animal called the people, " — as far as their ina- 
lienable rights were concerned he entertained a most supreme con- 
tempt. It was during his reign that the great struggle for freedom 
in the Netherlands broke out. " It was a great episode, — the long- 
est, the darkest, the bloodiest, the most important episode in the 
history of the religious reformation in Europe." Spain was deter- 
mined to put the Netherlands in a quarantine so effective that the 
religious pest of Protestantism should find no entrance. In the 
Netherlands the scaffold had many victims, but the numbers of its 
converts were few indeed. In that land there were men and women 
who dared and suffered much for conscience' sake. They were not 
fanatics. " For them all was terrible reality. The emperor and his 
edicts were realities ; the ax, the stake, were realities ; and the hero- 
ism with which men took each other by the hand and walked into 
the flames, or with which women sang a song of triumph while the 
grave-digger was shoveling the earth upon their living faces, was a 
reality also." 

Immediately after the accession of Philip, the terrible edict of 
1550 was re-enacted. From this notable document an idea of 
Spain's methods of governing her colonies may be gathered : — 

"No one shall print, write, copy, keep, conceal, sell, buy, or 
give in churches, streets, or other places, any book or writing made 
by Martin Luther, John Ecolampadius, Ulrich Zwinglius, Martin 
Bucer, John Calvin, or other heretics reprobated by the holy 
church; . . . nor break, or otherwise injure the images of the Holy 
Virgin or canonized saints; . . . nor in his house hold conventicles, 
or illegal gatherings, or be present at any such in which the adher- 
ents of the above-mentioned heretics teach, baptize, and form 
conspiracies against the holy church and the general welfare. . . . 
Moreover, we forbid all persons to converse or dispute concerning 
the Holy Scriptures, openly or secretly, especially on any doubtful 
or difficult matters, or to read, teach, or expound the Scriptures 
unless they have duly studied theology, and been approved by some 
renowned university; ... or to preach secretly, or openly, or to 
entertain any of the opinions of the above-mentioned heretics; . . . 
on pain, should any be found to have contravened any of the points 



64 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

above mentioned, as perturbers of the state and of the general quiet, 
to be punished in the following manner: that such perturbators of 
the general quiet are to be executed; to wit, the men with the sword, 
and the women to be buried alive, if they do not persist in their 
errors; if the}' do persist in them, then they are to be executed 
with fire ; all their property in both cases to be confiscated to the 
crown." 

"Thus, the clemency of the sovereign permitted the repentant 
heretic to be beheaded or juried alive, instead of being burned." 

All who in any way helped the heretic were in danger of, and 
liable to, the same punishment; for said the decree: — 

' ' We forbid all persons to lodge, entertain, furnish with food, 
fire, or clothing, or otherwise to favor any one holden or notoriously 
suspected of being a heretic; . . . and any one failing to denounce 
any such, we ordain shall be liable to the above-mentioned punish- 
ments." The edict went on to provide "that if any person, being 
not convicted of heresy or error, but greatly suspected thereof, and 
therefore condemned by the spiritual judge to abjure such heresy, 
or by the secular magistrate to make public fine or reparation, shall 
again become suspected or tainted with heresy — although it should 
not appear that he has con (ravened or violated any one of our abovt - 
mentioned commands — nevertheless we do will and ordain that such 
person shall be considered as relapsed, and, as such, be punished 
with loss of life and property, without any hope of moderation or 
mitigation of the above-mentioned penalties." 

And it was further decreed "that the spiritual judges desiring 
to proceed against any one for the crime of heresy shall request any 
of our sovereign courts or provincial councils to appoint any one of 
their college, or such other, adjunct as the council shall select, to 
preside over the proceedings to be instituted against the suspected. 
All who know of any persons tainted with heresy are required to 
denounce them and give them up to all judges, officers of the bish- 
ops, or others having authority on the premises, on pain of being 
punished according to the pleasure of the judge. Likewise, all shall 
be obliged, who know of any place where such heretics keep them- 
selves, to declare them to the authorities, on pain of being held as 
accomplices, and punished as such heretics themselves would be 
punished if apprehended." 



"THE COUNCIL OP BLOOD." 65 

In order to bring about the greatest number of arrests by means 
the most base, and by that which appeals powerfully to the most 
sordid attributes of our natures, it was further decreed that the 
informer, in the case of conviction, should be entitled to one half 
the property of the accused, if not more than one hundred pounds 
Flemish; if more, then ten per cent of all such excesses. 

Treachery to friends, brothers, and sisters was encouraged by a 
provision < • that if any man being present at any secret conventicle 
shall afterwards come forward and betray his fellow members of the 
congregation, he shall receive full pardon." 

Nor was this any mere fanatical decree for the purpose of inspir- 
ing terror, for the sovereign continued to ordain : — 

"To the end that the judges and officers may have no reason, 
under pretext that the penalties are too great and heavy, and only 
devised to terrify delinquents, to punish them less severely than they 
deserve — that the punished be really punished by the penalties 
above declared; forbidding all judges to alter or moderate the pen- 
alties in any manner ; forbidding any one, of whatsoever condition, 
to ask of us, or of any one having authority, to grant pardon, or to 
present any petition in favor of such heretics, exiles, or fugitives, 
on penalty of being declared forever incapable of civil and military 
office, and of being arbitrarily punished besides." 2 

Such was one of the most famous decrees, having for its main 
object the trampling into the dust the religious and civil rights 
and liberties of the people of Holland. It would a lmost seem that 
if the archfiend himself had set about it to create a more awful 
ordinance, he would have paled before the magnitude of the task. 
And it can never be said that this was done in the Dark Ages, and 
that the monarch was the only creature of the times in which he 
lived. It was done during the days when the Kenaissance and the 
Reformation were at their height. It was done during an age in 
which men were supposed to have come out of darkness into great 
and marvelous light. And to make the whole transaction the more 
horrible, it was ordered and decreed that this edict should be pub- 
lished forever, once in every six months, in every city, and in every 
village of the Netherlands. And this by a monarch who said of 
himself that he had always, ' ' from the beginning of his govern - 

« This edict can be read in Motley, " Rise of the Dutch Republic," part 2, chap. 1. 
5 



66 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

ment, followed the path of clemency, according to his natural dis- 
position, so well knqwn to all the world." 

And now the Inquisition was set in motion as the instrument 
whereby this decree should be carried into effect. It has been 
well said that, however classified or entitled, the Inquisition was 
only a machine for inquiring into a man's thoughts, and for burning 
him if the result was not satisfactory. The Inquisition was that 
part of the church which caused the savages of India and America 
to shudder and turn chill at the very name of Christianity. 

It is said that one day the secular sheriff, familiarly known as 
Red-rod, from the color of his wand of office, met upon the high 
road, Titelmann, the great inquisitor of Holland, and thus addressed 
him : — 

' ' How can you venture to go about alone, or at most with one 
attendant or two, arresting people on every side, while I dare not 
attempt to execute my office, except at the head of a strong force, 
armed in proof, and then only at the peril of my life?" 

"Ah! Red-rod, " answered Titelmann, laughing, "you deal with 
bad people. I have nothing to fear, for I seize only the innocent 
and the virtuous, who make no resistance, and let themselves be 
taken like lambs." 

" Mighty well," said the other; "but if you arrest all the good 
people, and I all the bad, 't is difficult to say who in the world is to 
escape chastisement." 

There was no end to the horrors of this horrible time. One 
Bertrand was seized by Titelmann for having insulted the host. 
He was dragged on a hurdle, his mouth closed with an iron gag, to 
the market-place. Here his right hand and his right foot were 
burned and twisted off between two red-hot irons. Then his tongue 
was torn out by the roots, and because he still endeavored to call 
upon God, the iron gag was again applied. His arms and legs were 
fastened together behind his back ; he was hooked by the middle of 
his body to an iron chain, and made to swing to and fro over a slow 
fire till he was entirely roasted. His life lasted almost to the end 
of these ingenious tortures, but ' ' his fortitude lasted as long as 
his life." 

At Ryssel, in Flanders, Titelmann caused one Robert Ogier to 
be arrested, together with his wife and two sons. The accusation 



"THE COUNCIL OP BLOOD." 67 

brought against them was that they did not go to mass, and that 
they had private worship in their own home. They were asked 
what rites they practised in their own house. One of the children 
answered: "We fall on our knees, and pray to God that he may 
enlighten our hearts, and forgive our sins. We pray for our sover- 
eign, that his reign may be prosperous, and his life peaceful. We 
also pray for the magistrates and others in authority, that God may 
protect and preserve them all." The simplicity of the boy drew 
tears from even some of those who sat in judgment upon his case. 
Nevertheless the father and the older child were condemned to the 
flames. "0 God!" prayed the youth at the stake, "Eternal 
Father, accept the sacrifice of our lives, in the name of thy beloved 
Son." " Thou liest, scoundrel!" interrupted the pious monk, who 
was lighting the fire; "God is not your Father, ye are the devil's 
children." As the flames rose high above them, the poor child once 
more cried out, ' ' Look, my father, all heaven is opening, and I see 
ten hundred thousand angels rejoicing over us. Let us be glad, for 
we are dying for the truth." "Thou liest! thou liest! " again roared 
the monk ; "all hell is opening, and you see ten hundred thousand 
devils thrusting you into eternal fire." Only eight days after this 
the wife of Ogier and the other child were burned, and this once 
happy family exterminated. 

These were some of the things which were done in the Nether- 
lands for the purpose of obliterating civil and religious freedom 
in this dependency of Spain. It is no wonder that such things bred 
revolt, and that the Hollanders, slow to rise, but terrible and deter- 
mined when at last they did rise, should make one terrible effort to 
throw off the accursed yoke. And it must ever be remembered that 
the whole object of these wicked proceedings was to extort money 
and property unjustly from the people, and to bring about the 
incorporation of a number of free and liberty-loving states into one 
compact and centrally governed kingdom, to be farmed for the 
benefit of the crown of Spain. 

General police regulations were issued at the same time, "by 
which heretics were to be excluded from all share in the usual con- 
veniences of society, and were in fact to be strictly excommuni- 
cated. Inns were to receive no guests, schools no children, 
almshouses no paupers, graveyards no dead bodies, unless guests, 



68 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

children, paupers, and dead bodies were furnished with the most 
satisfactory proofs of orthodoxy. Midwives of unsuspected Roman- 
ism were alone to exercise their functions, and were bound to give 
notice within twenty-four hours of every birth which occurred; the 
parish clerks were as regularly to record every such addition to the 
population, and the authorities to see that Catholic baptism was 
administered in each case with the least possible delay. Births, 
deaths, and marriages could only occur with validity under the 
shadow of the church. No human being could consider himself 
born or defunct unless provided with a priest's certificate. The 
heretic was excluded, so far as ecclesiastical dogma could exclude 
him, from the pale of humanity, from consecrated earth, and from 
eternal salvation." 3 

To the famous William of Orange, better known as William the 
Silent, or Father William, the great work of leading the revolt for 
freedom was by right assigned. His is one of the most noble char- 
acters of which all history boasts. In 1564 he took the ground that 
the time for speaking out had arrived, and that brave and honest 
men could no longer keep still. He argued that an envoy of high 
rank should be sent to the king of Spain in his native land, and 
that he should be told in unequivocal terms how the people of the 
Netherlands felt toward him and his rule. "Let him," were his 
words, "be unequivocally informed that this whole machinery of 
placards and scaffolds, of new bishops and old hangmen, of decrees, 
inquisitors, and informers, must once and forever be abolished." 

Even while the envoy was absent in Spain, the oppressive meas- 
ures were pushed forward with unabated fury. Such a state of 
things was produced by this great wickedness, that the ordinary 
business of mankind was almost entirely suspended. Commerce 
came to a dead standstill. The great commercial city of Antwerp 
"shook as with an earthquake." Merchants from other lands, 
manufacturers, and artisans fled away, and the grass began to grow 
in the streets. Contemporaneous records tell how that "famine 
reigned in the land. Emigration, caused not by overpopulation, 
but by persecution, was fast weakening the country. It was no 
wonder that not only foreign merchants should be scared from the 
great commercial cities by the approaching disorders, but that every 

a Motley " Rise of the Dutch Republic," part 2, chap. 6. 



"THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD." 69 

industrious artisan who could find the means of escape should seek 
refuge among strangers, wherever an asylum could be found. That 
asylum was afforded by Protestant England, who received these 
intelligent and unfortunate wanderers with cordiality, and learned 
with eagerness the lessons in mechanical skill which they had to 
teach. Already thirty thousand emigrant Netherlanders were estab- 
lished in Sandwich, Norwich, and other places, assigned to them by 
Elizabeth."* 

1 ' It had always, however, been made a condition of the liberty 
granted to these foreigners for practising their handiwork that each 
house should employ at least one English apprentice." 5 "Thus," 
said a Walloon historian, splenetically, "by this regulation, and by 
means of heavy duties on foreign manufactures, have the English 
built up their own fabrics, and prohibited those of the Netherlands. 
Thus have they drawn over to their own country our skilful artisans 
to practise their industry, not at home but abroad, and our poor 
people are thus losing the means of earning their livelihood. Thus 
has cloth-making, silk-making, and the art of dyeing declined in our 
country, and would have been quite extinguished but by our wise 
countervailing edicts." 6 

The cause given by this writer undoubtedly gives a wrong view 
of the case. This expatriation of these poor people came about on 
account of the sufferings imposed upon them in their native land. 
Where such terrible edicts were being daily enforced, where civil 
liberties were mocked at and trampled in the dust, it is only reason- 
able to suppose that commerce and manufactures would make their 
escape out of a doomed land with the utmost possible despatch. 

But neither edict, nor famine, nor persecutions could shake the 
purpose of the sturdy Hollanders. They were determined to do as 
they pleased in things religious, and not to be oppressed in their 
civil rights so to do. In the early summer of 1566, "many thou- 
sands of burghers, merchants, peasants, and gentlemen were seen 
mustering and marching through the fields of every province, armed 
with arquebus, javelin, pike, and broadsword. For what purpose 
were these gatherings? — Only to hear sermons and sing hymns in the 
open air, as it was unlawful to profane the churches with such rites. 



< Pasquier de la Barre, MSS. lvo, " Correspondence de Philippe II," 1, 392. 
6 " Renom de France," MSS. 8 " Renom de France," MSS. 



70 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

This was the first great popular phase of the Netherland rebellion. 
Notwithstanding the edicts and the inquisitions with their heca- 
tombs, notwithstanding the special publication at this time through- 
out the country by the duchess regent that all the sanguinary 
statutes concerning religion were in as great vigor as ever, notwith- 
standing that Margaret offered a reward of seven hundred crowns to 
the man who would bring her a preacher dead or alive, the popular 
thirst for the exercises of the reformed religion could no longer be 
slaked at the obscure and hidden fountains where their priests had 
so long privately ministered. . . . 

"Apostate priests were not the only preachers. To the ineffable 
disgust of the conservatives in church and state, there were men 
with little education, utterly devoid of Hebrew, of lowly station, — 
hatters, curriers, tanners, dyers, and the like, — who began to preach 
also; remembering, unseasonably perhaps, that the early disciples, 
selected by the founder of Christianity, had not all been doctors of 
theology with diplomas from a 'renowned university.' But if the 
nature of such men were subdued to what it worked in, that charge 
could not be brought against ministers with the learning and accom- 
plishments of Ambrose Willie, Marnier, Guy de Bray, or Francis 
Junius, the man whom Scaliger called the ' greatest of all theolo- 
gians since the days of the apostles.' An aristocratic sarcasm could 
not be leveled against Peregrine de la Grange, of a noble family in 
Provence, with the fiery blood of southern France in his veins, brave 
as his nation, learned, eloquent, enthusiastic, who galloped to his 
field-preaching on horseback, and fired a pistol shot as signal for his 
congregation to give attention. 

"On the 28th of June, 1566, at eleven o'clock at night, there 
was an assemblage of six thousand people near Tournay, at the 
bridge of Ernonville, to hear a sermon from Ambrose Willie, a man 
who had studied theology in Geneva, at the feet of Calvin, and who 
with a special price upon his head, was preaching the doctrines he 
had learned. Two days afterward ten thousand people assembled 
at the same spot to hear Peregrine de la Grange. Governor Moul- 
basis thundered forth a proclamation from the citadel, warning all 
men that the edicts were as rigorous as ever, and that every man, 
woman, or child who went to these preachings was incurring the 
penalty of death. The people became only the more ardent and 



"THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD." 71 

excited. Upon Sunday, the 7th of July, twenty thousand persons 
assembled at the same bridge to hear Ambrose Willie. One man in 
three was armed. Some had arquebuses, others pistols, pikes, 
swords, pitchforks, poniards, clubs. The preacher, for whose appre- 
hension a fresh reward had been offered, was escorted to his pulpit 
by a hundred mounted troopers. He begged his audience not to be 
scared from the Word of God by menace; assured them that 
although but a poor preacher himself, he held a divine commission, 
and that he had no fear of death; that should he fall, there were 
many better than he to supply his place, and fifty thousand men to* 
avenge his murder. 

"The duchess sent forth proclamations by hundreds. She 
ordered the instant suppression of these armed assemblies, and the 
arrest of the preachers: but of what avail were proclamations 
against such numbers with weapons in their hands? Why irritate to 
madness these hordes of enthusiasts, who were now entirely pacific, 
and who marched back to the city at the conclusion of divine 
service with perfect decorum? All classes of the population went 
eagerly to the sermons. The gentry of the place, the rich mer- 
chants, the notables, as well as the humble artisans and laborers, all 
had received the infection. The professors of the reformed religion 
outnumbered the Catholics by five or six to one. On Sunday and other 
holidays, during the hours of service, Tournay was literally emptied 
of its inhabitants. The streets were as silent as if war or pestilence 
had swept the place. The duchess sent orders, but she sent no 
troops. The train bands of the city, the crossbowmen of St. 
Maurice, the archers of St. Sebastian, the sword-players of St. 
Christopher, could not be ordered from Tournay to suppress the 
preaching, for they had all gone to the preaching themselves. How 
idle, therefore, to send peremptory orders without a matchlock to 
enforce the command! 

"Throughout Flanders similar scenes were enacted. The meet- 
ings were encampments, for the reformers now came to their relig- 
ious services armed to the teeth, determined, if banished from the 
churches, to defend their right to the field. Barricades of upturned 
wagons, branches, and planks were thrown up around the camp. 
Strong guards of mounted men were stationed at every avenue. 
Outlying scouts gave notice of approaching danger, and guarded 



72 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

the faithful into the enclosure. Pedlers and hawkers plied the trade 
upon which the penalty of death was fixed, and sold the forbidden 
hymn-books to all who chose to purchase. A strange and contra- 
dictory spectacle ! An army of criminals doing deeds which could 
only be expiated at the stake; an entrenched rebellion, bearding the 
government with pikes, matchlocks, javelin, and barricade, and all 
for no more deadly purpose than to listen to the precepts of the 
pacific Jesus. 

' ' Thus the preaching spread through the Walloon provinces to 
the northern Netherlands. Toward the end of July an apostate 
monk, Peter Gabriel by name, was announced to preach at Overwen, 
near Harlem. This was the first field meeting which had taken 
place in Holland. The people were wild with enthusiasm, the 
authorities beside themselves with apprehension. People from the 
country flocked into the town by thousands. The other cities were 
deserted, Harlem was filled to overflowing. Multitudes encamped 
upon the ground the night before. The magistrates ordered the 
gates to be kept closed in the morning till long after the usual hour. 
It was of no avail. Bolts and bars were but small impediments to 
enthusiasts who had traveled so many miles on foot or horseback to 
listen to a sermon. They climbed the walls, swam the moat, and 
thronged to the place of meeting long before the doors had been 
opened. When these could no longer be kept closed without a con- 
flict, for which the magistrates were not prepared, the whole popula- 
tion poured out of the city with a single impulse. Tens of 
thousands were assembled upon the field. The bulwarks were 
erected as usual. The guards were posted. The necessary precau- 
tions taken. But upon this occasion, and in that region, there was 
but little danger to be apprehended. The multitudes of reformers 
made the edicts impossible, so long as no foreign troops were there 
to enforce them. The congregation was encamped and arranged in 
an orderly manner. The women, of whom there were many, were 
placed next the pulpit, which, upon this occasion, was formed of a 
couple of spears thrust into the earth, sustaining a cross-piece, 
against which the preacher might lean his back. The services com- 
menced with the singing of a psalm by the whole vast assembly. 
Clement Marot's verses, recently translated by Dathenus, were then 
new and popular. The strains of the monarch minstrel, chanted 



"THE COUNCIL OP BLOOD." 73 

thus in their homely but nervous mother tongue by a multitude who 
had but recently learned that all the poetry and rapture of devotion 
were not irrevocably coffined with a buried language, or immured 
in the precincts of a church, had never produced a more elevating 
effect. No anthem from the world-renowned organ in that ancient 
city ever awakened more lofty emotion than did those ten thousand 
human voices, ringing from the grassy meadows in that fervid mid- 
summer noon. "When all was silent again, the preacher rose, a 

little meager man, who looked as if he might rather melt away 
beneath the blazing sunshine of July than hold the multitude 
enchained four uninterrupted hours long, by the magic of his 
tongue. His text was the eighth, ninth, and tenth verses of the 
second chapter of Ephesians ; and as the slender monk spoke to his 
simple audience of God's grace, and of faith in Jesus, who had 
descended from above to save the lowliest and the most abandoned, 
if they would but put their trust in him, his hearers were alternately 
exalted with fervor or melted into tears. He prayed for all condi- 
tions of men — for themselves, their friends, their enemies, for the 
government which had persecuted them, for the king whose face 
was turned upon them in anger. At times, according to one who 
was present, not a dry eye was to be seen in the crowd. When the 
minister had finished, he left his congregation abruptly, for he had 
to travel all night in order to reach Alkmaar, where he was to 
preach upon the following day. 

" By the middle of July the custom was established outside all 
the principal cities. Camp-meetings were held in some places; as, 
for instance, in the neighborhood of Antwerp, where the congrega- 
tion numbered over fifteen thousand; and on some occasions was 
estimated at between twenty and thirty thousand persons at a time, 
'very many of them,' said an eye-witness, ; the best and wealthiest 
in the town." 7 

Looking back through the mist of time, we think how easy it 
would have been for Spain to have saved herself much trouble and 
travail, and to have imparted great happiness to a frugal, indus- 
trious, and peaceable people by simply letting them worship accord- 
ing to the dictates of conscience, and regulate their own local affairs 
in whatever manner would have been most satisfactory to them. 

7 Motley, " Rise of the Dutch Republic," part 2, chap. 6. 



74 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

This would have been a simple solution, to be sure; but lust and 
greed of gain were against it, and to these monsters principle was 
sacrificed. 

In 15C7 the Duke of Alva, with a powerful army, was sent to 
look after the interests of Spain in the Netherlands. He was 
instructed to organize and preside over that terrible court, forever 
to be known in history as the Blood-Council. It was a mere 
informal club, of which the duke was perpetual president, while ali 
the other members were appointed by himself; and of these other 
members there were only two who had the right to vote ; the re- 
mainder were not permitted to vote at all. This infamous court 
carried on its proceedings in defiance of all law and all reason. 
Imformation was lodged against one man or against one hundred 
men in a single document, and execution was frequently done upon 
the one man or upon the hundred men within forty-eight hours after 
the information had been lodged. The proceedings of the council 
were also ex parte, and an information was almost invariably fol- 
lowed by a death-warrant. Sometimes the sentences were in advance 
of the docket. Upon one occasion a man's case was called for trial, 
but before the investigation had commenced, it was discovered that 
he had already been executed. Moreover, upon examination, it was 
found that he had committed no crime. "No matter for that," 
said Vargas, gaily, "if he has died innocently, it will be all the 
better for him when he takes his trial in the other world." 

However, according to the rules which defined and constituted 
guilt, it was almost impossible for a man to be innocent before such 
a court. People were daily executed upon the most frivolous pre- 
texts. "Thus Peter de Witt, of Amsterdam, was beheaded because 
at one of the tumults in that city he had persuaded a rioter not to 
shoot a magistrate. This was taken as sufficient evidence that he 
was a man in authority among the rebels, and he was accordingly 
put to death." "Madame Juriaen, who in 1566 had struck with 
her slipper a little wooden image of the Virgin, together with her 
maid servant, who had witnessed, without denouncing, the crime, 
were both drowned by the hangman in a hogshead placed on the 
scaffold." 

"Death, even, did not in all cases place a criminal beyond the 
reach of the executioner. Egbert Meynartzoon, a man of high 



"THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD." 75 

official rank, had been condemned, together with two colleagues, on 
an accusation of collecting money in a Lutheran church. He died 
in prison, of dropsy. The sheriff was indignant with the physician, 
because, in spite of cordials and strengthening prescriptions, the 
culprit had slipped through his fingers before he had felt those of 
the hangman. He consoled himself by placing the body on a chair, 
and having the dead man beheaded in company with his colleagues. 

"Thus the whole country became a charnel-house; the death- 
bell tolled hourly in every village ; not a family but was called to 
mourn for its dearest relatives, while the survivors stalked listlessly 
about, the ghosts of their former selves, among the wrecks of their 
former homes. The spirit of the nation, within a few months after 
the arrival of Alva, seemed hopelessly broken. The blood of its 
best and bravest had already stained the scaffold; the men to whom 
it had been accustomed to look for guidance and protection were 
dead, in prison, or in exile. Submission had ceased to be of any 
avail, flight was impossible, and the spirit of vengeance had alighted 
at every fireside. The mourners went daily about the streets, for 
there was hardly a house which had not been made desolate. The 
scaffolds, the gallows, the funeral piles, which had been sufficient in 
ordinary times, furnished now an entirely inadequate machinery for 
the incessant executions. Columns and stakes in every street, the 
door-posts of private houses, the fences in the fields, were laden 
with human carcasses, strangled, burned, beheaded. The orchards 
in the country bore on many a tree the hideous fruit of human 
bodies. 

"Thus the Netherlands were crushed, and but for the stringency 
of the tyranny which had now closed their gates, would have been 
depopulated. The grass began to grow in the streets of those 
cities which had recently nourished so many artisans. In all those 
great manufacturing and industrial marts, where the tide of human 
life had throbbed so vigorously, there now reigned the silence and 
darkness of midnight. It was at this time that the learned Vigilius 
wrote to his friend Hopper that all venerated the prudence and 
gentleness of the Duke of Alva. Such were among the first-fruits 
of that prudence and that gentleness. 

" Upon the 16th of February, 156S, a sentence of the holy office 
condemned all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to death as heretics. 



76 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

From this universal doom only a few persons especially named, 
were excepted. A proclamation of the king, dated ten days later, 
confirmed this decree of the Inquisition, and ordered it to be carried 
into instant execution, without regard to age, sex, or condition. 
This is probably the most concise death-warrant that was ever 
framed. Three millions of people, men, women, and children, 
were sentenced to the scaffold in three lines; and, as it was well 
known that these were not harmless thunders, like some bulls of the 
Vatican, but serious and practical measures, which it was intended 
should be enforced, the horror which they produced may be easily 
imagined. 

' ' And under this new decree the executions certainly did not 
slacken. Men in the highest and humblest positions were daily and 
hourly dragged to the stake. Alva, in a single letter to Philip, 
coolly estimated the number of executions which had taken place 
after the expiration of holy week, ' at eight hundred heads. ' Many 
a citizen, convicted of a hundred thousand florins, and no other 
crime, saw himself suddenly tied to a horse's tail, with his hands 
fastened behind him, and so dragged to the gallows. . . . The 
tongue of each prisoner was screwed into an iron ring, and then 
seared with a hot iron. The swelling and inflammation, which were 
the immediate result, prevented the tongue from slipping through 
the ring, and of course effectually precluded all possibility of 
speech." 

Still the sturdy Hollanders were not crushed. Fear ne'er sat 
upon their breasts; and never did they stack their arms until the 
Duke of Alva had been forced to leave the country. But there was 
no peace even then ; Spain kept up the fight, and the people of the 
Netherlands contended against the most fearful odds which history 
has to record. Then came the far-famed siege of Leyden. The 
beleaguered city endured sufferings untold, and it seemed impossible 
for their brethren to bring them relief. Leyden was not upon the 
sea, but they resolved to send the sea to Leyden. ' ' Better a 
drowned land than a lost land," was the cry of the patriots. They 
determined to pierce the dikes that kept back the ocean, and drown 
their land in the waves. The Spaniards mocked at the very idea. 
The idea that any people could love liberty sufficiently to purchase 
it at such an awful price was foreign to their lust-loving and greedy 



"THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD." 77 

souls. "Go up to the tower, ye beggars," was their frequent and 
taunting cry, "go up to the tower, and tell us if you can see the 
ocean coming over the dry land to your relief." "And day after day 
they did go up to the ancient tower of Hengist, with heavy heart 
and anxious eye, watching, hoping, fearing, praying, and at last 
almost despairing of relief by God or man." Once, fearing that they 
had been forgotten, they addressed a despairing letter to the estates ; 
but back came the reply: ' ' Rather will we see our whole land and 
all our possessions perish in the waves than forsake thee, Leyden. 
We know full well, moreover, that with Leyden all Holland must 
perish also." 

Once during the siege a crowd of those who had grown faint- 
hearted during the long and terrific struggle came to Adrain van 
der Werf, the burgomaster. They assailed him with threats and 
reproaches. He waved his hand for silence, and spoke as fol- 
lows : " What would ye, my friends? Why do ye murmur that we 
do not break our vows, and surrender the city to the Spaniards, 
a fate more horrible than the agony which she now endures? I tell 
you I have made an oath to hold the city, and may God give me 
strength to keep my oath! I can die but once; whether by your 
hands, the enemy's, or by the hand of God. My own fate is indif- 
ferent to me, not so the city entrusted to my care. I know that we 
shall starve if not soon relieved; but starvation is preferable to the 
dishonored death which is the only alternative. Your menaces move 
me not; my life is at your disposal; here is my sword, plunge it into 
my breast, and divide my flesh among you. Take my body to ap- 
pease your hunger, but expect no surrender so long as I remain 
alive." His words inspired courage, and a shout of applause went 
up from the assembled throng. 

At length the last dike was pierced, and the ocean, aided by 
a strong equinoctial gale, swept over the land. In a light flotilla 
came the relieving force with supplies for the people of Leyden. 
Terror took possession of the Spaniards, and in the gray light of 
the early morning they poured out of their entrenchments, and fled 
toward The Hague. They were none too early in their flight. Rap- 
idly did their narrow path vanish in the waves, and hundreds sank 
beneath the deepening and treacherous flood. Leyden was relieved. 

It is needless for me to write here of the Dutch Republic which 



78 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

followed, when the Netherlands gained their freedom and separa- 
tion from the crown of Spain. Suffice to say that before the advent 
of the United States upon the stage of earth's history, the little 
Dutch republic was the home of the oppressed of all Europe ; and 
it is significant that Leyden was the home of the Pilgrim Fathers 
before they sailed upon that memorable voyage which landed them 
upon Plymouth Rock, where they were destined to lay the founda- 
tion stone of a new and greater Republic, which was to take up the 
work so gallantly commenced by Holland, and bear it forward to 
perfection. 



CHAPTER VII. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 

The war, begun in 1898, between the kingdom of Spain and the 
republic of the United States is now at an end, and the laurels of 
victory are worn by the armies and the navy of the Western Giant. 
Few were the battles and brief the campaign which laid the feeble 
foe prostrate in the dust. Continued violation of natural law had 
produced internal weakness and disintegration. Spain fell an easy 
and helpless prey, not simply on account of the superiority of Ameri- 
can prowess and gunnery, but because of inherent weakness, pro- 
duced by her own sin. 

It was altogether fitting that the long struggle which the Iberians 
had carried on against their own colonies for the purpose of 
enforcing the ideas that all men are not created equal, and that 
governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the 
governed, should be abruptly terminated by that nation which was 
conceived in principles the exact reverse of these theories. 

That Providence willed it so, there can be no doubt. Only the 
hand that was free from the stain of despotism could be used to 
inflict punishment upon her whose every garment was spotted with 
its leprosy. With the surrender of Cuba and Porto Rico, Spain 
relinquished the last acre of that great landfall which Christopher 
Columbus in 1492 brought to the united thrones of Aragon and 
Castile. Spain's administration of these domains was one long 
series of national crime. Long ago the King of kings arraigned her 
at tne bar above, and there and then it was justly decreed that the 
unjust steward should have her stewardship taken away. Instal- 
ments of the penalty have fallen due from time to time. Just now 
we have witnessed the last payment, that of the uttermost farthing. 
And in the words of Lincoln, ' ' As was said three thousand years 
ago, so still it must be said, ' The judgments of the Lord are true 
and righteous altogether.' " 

[79] 



80 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

As the stereopticon pictures dissolve upon the sheet upon which 
they are thrown, and fade away from view, so in A. D. 360 the 
empire of the Romans began dissolving upon the great sheet of time 
and space upon which all nations are cast, until in a. d. 476 the last 
faint traces and shadowy outlines of her once great power and glory 
had utterly vanished. But as her fleeting specter disappeared from 
off the canvas, the Visigoths, in the childlike bloom of semi-bar- 
baric virginity, may be seen in that dim twilight of time stealthily 
gliding in to occupy the rich peninsula which the fall of Rome 
had left without a tenant. Weal might have been their day; 
glorious with white and gold the years of the hoar hair of their 
national existence, the harvest of their allotted span. By their own 
choice alone it has brought forth only tears and woe, — first to 
others, and finally to themselves. They followed in the steps of 
Rome, they repeated her history, and as far as colonial empire is 
concerned, they have met her end, while their own dissolution, the 
last grand tableau in the tragedy, already looms in the offing of 
time. For as God is no respecter of persons, even so he is no 
respecter of nations. 

Columbus sailed with the intent of finding, not the West, but the 
East Indies. To the day of his death he never discovered his mis- 
take. It was his intent there to plant the monarchical tyranny of 
Spain. Four hundred years have passed away since then, and it is 
passing strange that these United States, after breaking the power 
of Spain in the West, are even now engaged in fastening upon that 
land which Columbus sought to reach, those same Spanish principles 
of power and tyranny which he would fain have taken there. 

An Old World power has been driven from Cuba, but an Old World 
idea has invaded and well-nigh captured the republic of the United 
States, — the idea that all men are not created equal, and that 
governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the 
governed. There have been times when the ship of state in the 
United States has been partially diverted from her course, and 
greed has used her officers for private ends and personal emolu- 
ments. But now the very foundation-stones of the fabric govern- 
mental are being undermined. 

Prior to the year 1898 this government was a republic pure and 
simple. Its foundations were laid in principle, and not in power. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM NATIONAL APOSTASY. 81 

It was not an empire in any sense of the word, for the foundations 
of an empire are laid in power, and not in principle. It was built 
upon that everlasting rock that right makes might. Against this 
the coming of floods and the blowing and beating of winds are 
alike powerless, for it standeth sure and falleth not forever. But 
empires, on the other hand, are built upon that sinking sand that 
might makes right. Against these the floods come, and the winds 
blow and beat, and they fall, and great is the fall thereof. 

To-day this nation is in danger of abandoning the rock and set- 
tling upon the sand. The love of power, so prone to the human 
breast, is smothering priceless, eternal principle. From being a 
government of the people, by the people, and for the people, it is 
being rapidly transformed into a government of some of the people, 
by a few of the people, for all the people. This is imperialism as 
opposed to republicanism, and this is national apostasy. 

Until the summer of 1898 the word "imperialism" was but 
little heard from the lips of Americans. Now the very atmosphere 
is fairly drenched with it. A perfect wave of imperialism has swept 
over the land, and the desire for an Imperial America, or an "Im- 
perial Republic," as it has been styled, sits supreme upon hundreds 
of scores of souls. But an imperial republic can not exist. With 
equal sense and propriety one might talk about " good badness." 

What means this wild babel of tongues clamoring for subjects 
over which to exercise sway? What means this strange jargon, 
formed from an Old World monarchical vocabulary? Are men crazed 
with the madness sometimes begotten by victory at arms? Are men 
drunken with the lust of colonial empire? Are men raving in the 
delirium of that dread fever, earth-hunger, in which all the mon- 
archies of the Old World are writhing? Think they in the hour of 
triumph over a foe, outclassed at every point, to build a tower of 
national greatness which will reach to the very heavens, and at the 
same time to lay its unrighteous foundations on the stricken forms 
of vassal peoples? The result will surely be as it was before in the 
case of the builders of Babel, there will be confusion of tongues, and 
the dissolution of the nation. 

In his day, Abraham Lincoln said that in the days of the Fathers 
"our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all, and 
thought to include all ; but now, to aid in making the bondage of 
6 



82 Iflii PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

the negro universal and eternal, it is assailed, and sneered at, and 
construed, and hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise 
from their graves, they could not at all recognize it." 1 

And again he said, speaking of the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise: — 

"I think, and shall try to show, that it is wrong, — wrong in its 
direct effect, — letting slavery into Kansas and Nebraska, and wrong 
in its prospective principle, allowing it to spread to every other part 
of the wide world, where men can be found inclined to take it. 

1 ' This declared indifference, but as I must think covert real zeal, 
for the spread of slavery, I can not but hate. I hate it because of 
the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it 
deprives our republican example of its just influence; enables the 
enemies of free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypo- 
crites; causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity; 
and especially because it forces so man}' really good men among 
ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principles of 
civil liberty, criticizing the Declaration of Independence." 2 

Once again the time has come when the Declaration of Independ- 
ence is not held sacred by all, is not thought to include all. Once 
again, to make the bondage, not of the negro, but of the Filipino, 
universal and eternal, " it is assailed, and sneered at, and hawked 
at, and, torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they 
could not at all recognize it." 

The forcible annexation of the Philippine Islands is now being 
attempted. The government of the United States is endeavoring to 
subject this people against their will. To enforce this idea is to 
enforce slavery; not in the extreme degree, to be sure, but in part 
and in principle nevertheless. On this point a United States senator 
has truly said : — 

" Wherever a people are required to render an obedience which is 
involuntary, that requirement is an enslavement of that people. 

"There are different degrees of enslavement. If we put our 
yoke upon a people, if we rule them arbitrarily, if we send them 
governors and judges, if we make laws for them without their par- 
ticipation, if we enforce obedience to such laws by our army, then it 



i Speech at Sprlng6eld, 111., June 26, 1857 
a Speech at Peoria, 111., Oct. 16, 1854. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM NATIONAL APOSTASY 83 

is an absolute enslavement. If, on the contrary, we allow them free 
institutions, but at the same time prescribe to them that they shall 
owe allegiance to a government against their will, it is none the 
less an enslavement, although less in degree." 3 

That which is now being clone in this enslavement is wrong. It 
is wrong in its direct effect, and ' ' wrong in its prospective principle, 
allowing it [slavery — vassalage] to spread to every other part of 
the wide world, where men can be found inclined to take it." 
Besides this, it "deprives our republican example of its just influ- 
ence in the world; enables the enemies of free institutions, with 
plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites; causes the real friends of 
freedom to doubt our sincerity." And more and worse than all of 
this, < ' it forces so many really good men among ourselves into an 
open war with the very fundamental principles of civil liberty, 
criticizing the Declaration of Independence." 

Now here are the words of some who have been doing this : — 

"A constitution and national policy adopted by thirteen half- 
consolidated, weak, rescued colonies, glad to be able to call their 
life their own, can not be expected to hamper the greatest nation in 
the world." i 

' ' This nation has become a giant, who is no longer content with 
the nursery rimes which were sung around his cradle." 5 

( ' In the right to acquire territory is found the right to govern ; 
and as the right to govern is sovereign and unlimited, the right to 
govern is a sovereign right, and I maintain is not limited in the 
Constitution. I think it must be admitted that the right to govern 
is sovereign and unlimited. . . . Governments derive their just 
powers from the consent of some of the governed." 6 

' ' The Declaration of Independence was made to suit a particular 
existing condition of things. The Declaration meant simply that 
the colonies had become tired of the British domination, deeming it 
oppressive, and intended to set up a government of their own by the 
right of revolution. They were not laying down a principle for anybody 
except themselves, and they had no conception of the 'consent of 
the governed' as it is proclaimed by Mr. and the generally 

3 Hon. Augustus O. Bacon, speech in United States Senate. 
* Franklin Mac Veagh. 

6 President Northrup, at Chicago Peace Jubilee Banquet. 
« Senator Piatt, of Connecticut, in the United States Senate. 



84 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

hypocritical gang who are sympathizing with him in the hope of 
cheating us out of our rightful conquests." 7 

' c It is a favorite notion now to quote the words, ' Governments 
are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed,' as if these embodied a law of application to 
all inhabitants alike. ... It was never the intention [of the signers 
of the Declaration] to assert that the negroes or the savage race 
must give consent before just government should be established over 
them. . . . The Declaration of Independence was a formal notice 
that the inhabitants of the colonies consented no longer to British 
rule." 8 

"We would inform Senator Vest that the idea that all men are 
created equal is not the fundamental law of this country. The 
Fathers had better sense than to put that phrase in the Constitution. 
They wrote it in the Declaration, which was simply their manifesto 
to European powers, and is not law." 9 

' ' Resist the crazy extension of the doctrine that government 
derives its just powers from the consent of the governed." 10 

' ' And so to-day there are those that wave the Declaration of 
Independence in our faces, and tell us that the thing to do is to 
deliver over those islands of the archipelago in the East to the peo- 
ple who are their rightful masters ; for < all governments derive their 
just powers from the consent of the governed. ' So wrote Thomas 
Jefferson. Do you remember that the Lord said to Joshua, < My 
servant is dead'? And so is Thomas Jefferson. I do not believe 
that Thomas Jefferson was infallible. I believe that a live presi- 
dent in the year of grace 1899 is just as much of an authority as a 
president that lived and died a, hundred years ago. I am no wor- 
shiper of a saint just because he is dead. Let the dead bury the 
dead. As to that hallowed document that declares that all govern- 
ments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, if 
that is to be literally construed, THERE NEVER WAS A GREATER 
FALSEHOOD PALMED OFF BY THE DEVIL UPON A CREDU- 
LOUS WORLD. It is not true of the government of God." " 

7 New York Sun. 8 The New York Tribune. 

e The Chicago Times-Herald. w Whitelaw Reid. 

n Rev. P. S. HensoD, Chicago, in Auditorium mass meeting, Sunday, May 7, 
1899, printed in the Chicago Times- Herald, May 8, 1899. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 85 

These sentiments are so akin in principle to the doctrine of 
Judge Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln's great opponent, that it is well 
worth while to put his words side by side with them. Here 
they are: — 

' < No man can vindicate the character, motives, and conduct of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, except upon the 
hypothesis that they referred to the white race alone, and not to the 
African, when they declared all men to be created equal, — that 
they were speaking of British subjects on this continent being equal 
to British subjects born and residing in Great Britain, — that they 
were entitled to the same inalienable rights, and among them were 
enumerated life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Decla- 
ration was adopted for the purpose of justifying the colonists in the 
eyes of the civilized world in withdrawing their allegiance from the 
British crown, and dissolving their connection with the mother 
country." 

Truly did Lincoln rejoin to this speech that it made a mere 
wreck, a mangled ruin, of our once glorious Declaration. But 
verily it is true now as well as then, that ' ' its authors meant it to 
be, as, thank God, it is now proving itself, a stumbling-block to all 
those who in aftertimes might seek to turn a free people back into 
the hateful paths of despotism. They knew the proneness of pros- 
perity to breed tyrants, and they meant that when such should 
reappear in this fair land, and commence their vocation, they should 
find left for them at least one hard nut to crack." 

The advocates of the imperialistic policy frequently cite past 
events in our national history in support of their theory. The 
Fathers are quoted, and chief among them Thomas Jefferson. 
Nevertheless, of all the statesmen who ever lived none was more 
hostile to colonial policy than was the sage of Monticello. 

A well-known statesman of the present day has divided imperial- 
ism, as it now presents itself, into four distinct propositions, as 
follows : — 

"1. That the acquisition of territory by conquest is right. 

" 2. That the acquisition of remote territory is desirable. 

"3. That the doctrine that governments derive their just powers 
from the consent of the governed is unsound 



86 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

" 4. That people can be wisely governed by aliens." 12 

As for conquering territory and ruling over it there can be no 
mistaking Jefferson's position, for in 1791 he wrote: — 

' ' If there be one principle more deeply written than any other 
in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to 
do with conquest." 13 

Surely this is plain enough from the author of the Declaration of 
Independence. Why, the very fundamental principle of the doc- 
trine of a republic is diametrically opposed to the acquisition of ter- 
ritory by conquest. This truth is plainly set forth by John Fiske, 
the most philosophical of all the American historians. He divides 
nation-making into three classes, the third of which he styles the 
"English method." This he defines as being the one which con- 
tains the " principle of representation." Then he adds: — 

' ' For this reason, though like all nation-making it was in its 
early stages attended with war and conquest, it nevertheless does 
not necessarily require war and conquest in order to be put into 
operation. . . , Now of the English or Teutonic method, I say, 
war is not an essential part ; for where representative government 
is once established, it is possible for a great nation to be formed by 
the peaceful coalescence of neighboring states, or by their union into 
a federal body. . . . Now federalism, though its rise and establish- 
ment may be incidentally accompanied by warfare, is nevertheless 
in spirit pacific. Conquest in the Oriental sense is quite incompati- 
ble with it ; conquest in the Roman sense hardly less so. At the 
close of our Civil war there were now and then zealous people to be 
found who thought that the Southern States ought to be treated as 
conquered territory, governed by prefects sent from Washington, 
and held down by military force for a generation or so. Let us 
hope that there are few to-day who can fail to see that such a course 
would have been fraught with almost as much danger as the seces- 
sion movement itself. At least it would have been a hasty confes- 
sion, quite uncalled for and quite untrue, that American federalism 

12 W. J. Bryan, article on Jefferson versus Imperialism, published in " Republic 
or Empire," Independent Company, Chicago I am Indebted to this article in large 
degree for my technical knowledge of Jefferson's views on this subject, and wish 
to give due and fair acknowledgment of such indebtedness at the beginning of 
this argument. I am also following quite closely Mr. Bryan's classification and 
comment. 

i3 Letter to William Short. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM NATIONAL APOSTASY. 87 

had thus far proved itself incompetent; that we had indeed pre- 
served our national unity, but only at the frightful cost of sinking 
to a lower plane of national life. . . 

' < Our experience has now so far widened that we can see that 
despotism is not the strongest but well-nigh the weakest form of 
government; that centralized administrations, like that of the Roman 
empire, have fallen to pieces, not because of too much, but because 
of too little, freedom ; and that the only perdurable government must 
be that which succeeds in achieving national unity on a grand scale, 
without weakening the sense of local and personal independence. 
For in the body politic this spirit of freedom is as the red corpuscles 
in the blood; it carries the life with it. It makes the difference 
between a society of self-respecting men and women and a society 
of puppets. Your nation may have art, poetry, and science, all the 
refinements of civilized life, all the comforts and safeguards that 
human ingenuity can devise, but if it lose this spirit of personal and 
local independence, it is doomed, and deserves its doom. ... Of 
the two opposite perils which have perpetually threatened the wel- 
fare of political society, — anarchy on the one hand, loss of self- 
government on the other, — Jefferson was right in maintaining that 
the latter is really the more to be dreaded, because its beginnings 
are so terribly insidious." 14 

' ' Nothing is more dangerous for a free people than the attempt 
to govern a dependent people despotically. The bad government 
kills out the good government as surely as slave labor destroys free 
labor, or as a debased currency drives out a sound currency." 16 

Such are the principles of Thomas Jefferson and of John Fiske, 
and these were reiterated in later years by a statesman of no less 
repute than James G. Blaine. One of the great desires of his life 
was to bring the republics of North and South America into close 
and cordial relations, and at a conference held for this purpose in 
1890 he introduced the following resolutions, and the same were 
approved by the commissioners present: — 

"First. That the principle of conquest shall not, during the 
continuance of the treaty of arbitration, be recognized as admissible 
under American public law. 



h Fiske, " Beginnings of New England." chap. 1, pars. 14, 15. 

16 Fiske, "American Political Ideas," Lectures, Federal Union, par. 17. 



88 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

1 ' Second. That all cessions of territory made during the con- 
tinuance of the treaty of arbitration shall be void, if made under 
threats of war or in the presence of an armed force. 

< ' Third. Any nation from which such cessions shall be exacted 
may demand that the validity of the cessions so made shall be sub- 
mitted to arbitration. 

< ' Fourth. Any renunciation of the right to arbitration made 
under the conditions made in the second section shall be null and 
void." 

Now these resolutions do not admit conquest to any place in 
American public law. The reason they do not admit it is simply 
and solely because it is not right. Commenting on these resolutions 
a noted publicist justly says: — 

"So objectionable is the theory of acquisition of territory by 
conquest that the nation which suffers such injustice can, according 
to the resolutions, recover by arbitration the land ceded in the pres- 
ence of an armed force. So abhorrent is it that a waiver of arbitra- 
tion, under such circumstances, is null and void." 16 

Besides all this, Jefferson was ever opposed to the acquisition of 
remote territory. He continually stated that he did not desire for 
the United States any land outside the North American continent. 
It is true, however, as an exception to this that he desired the an- 
nexation of the island of Cuba. On this point, however, he has left 
on record a letter addressed to the then president of the United 
States, in which he suggests that we should be ready to receive 
Cuba "when solicited by herself." " The only reason that he ever 
dreamed of desiring Cuba was because of its nearness to our own 
shores; but for fear that any one might use its annexation as a prece- 
dent for general and indefinite expansion, he said in another letter to 
James Madison, then pissident: "It will be objected to our receiv- 
ing Cuba, that no limit can be drawn to our future acquisitions;" but 
he added, ' ' Cuba can be defended by us without a navy, and this 
develops the principle which ought to limit our views. Nothing 
should ever be accepted which requires a navy to defend it." 18 

And still further, in the same letter, speaking in view of the 



i6 W.J. Bryan in "Republic or Empire," page 43. 
17 Jefferson to Monroe, June 23, 1823. 
is Jefferson to Madison, April 27. 1809. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 89 

possible acquisition of that island, he said : "I would immediately 
erect a column on the southernmost limit of Cuba, and inscribe on 
it a ne plus ultra as to us in that direction." 

Upon the fourth proposition regarding the government of people 
by aliens, Jefferson spake words which for the truth they contain, 
and the modest simplicity they manifest, must live forever. There 
was formed in the year 1817 a French society, the members of 
which had it for their purpose to settle near the Tombigbee River. 
This society invited Jefferson to formulate laws and regulations for 
them. Replying, he expressed his appreciation of their feelings 
toward and confidence in him, but stated in effect that he could not 
conscientiously undertake the task. The following are the reasons 
which he gave for thus declining: — 

' ' The laws, however, which must effect this must flow from 
their own habits, their own feelings, and the resources of their own 
minds. No stranger to these could possibly propose regulations 
adapted to them. Every people have their own particular habits, 
ways of thinking, manners, etc. , which have grown up with them 
from their infancy, are become a part of their nature, and to which 
the regulations which are to make them happy must be accommo- 
dated. No member of a foreign country can have a sufficient sym- 
pathy with these. The institutions of Lycurgus, for example, 
would not have suited Athens, nor those of Solon, Lacedaemon. 
The organizations of Locke were impracticable for Carolina, and 
those of Rosseau for Poland. Turning inwardly on myself from 
these eminent illustrations of the truth of my observation, I feel 
all the presumption it would manifest should I undertake to do 
what this respectable society is alone qualified to do suitably for 
itself." 19 

This is all aamirable truth. No self-respecting community will 
cheerfully obey any other than self-imposed laws. They may obey 
through fear, or on account of the presence of armed force, but there 
will always be danger of riots caused by discontent, or of insurrec- 
tion in the hope of freedom. Liberty is an inalienable right. 
Nature has planted it in the human breast, and just as long as it 
exists there, many and grievous will be the troubles of colonial 
empires. The cases of Ireland and India under British rule are 
cases in point. 

"Written from Monticello, Va., Jan. 16, 1817. 



{<(! THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Colonial empires are wroDg in principle. The conception of the 
thing itself is wrong. Colonial empires are built upon arbitrary 
theories and force, instead of on natural law. The splendid colonial 
system of England is held up as an example of this type of govern- 
ment; but Goldsmith called upon legislators — 

" . . .to judge how wide the limits stand 
Betwixt a splendid and a happy land." 

Lord Macaulay himself denied the value of colonies, even to 
European nations : — 

' ' There are some who assert that, from a military and political 
point of view, the West Indies are of great importance to this 
country. This is a common but a monstrous misrepresentation. 
We venture to say that colonial empire has been one of the greatest 
curses of modern Europe. What nation has it ever strengthened? 
What nation has it ever enriched? What have been its fruits? — 
Wars of frequent occurrence and immense cost, fettered trade, lavish 
expenditure, clashing jurisdiction, corruption in governments and 
indigence among the people. What have Mexico and Peru done for 
Spain, the Brazils for Portugal, Batavia for Holland? Or, if the 
experience of others is lost upon us, shall we not profit by our own? 
What have we not sacrificed to our infatuated passion for transat- 
lantic dominion? This it is that has so often led us to risk our own 
smiling gardens and dear firesides for some snowy desert or infec- 
tious morass on the other side of the globe; this induced us to resign 
all the advantages of our insular situation, to embroil ourselves in 
the intrigues and fight the battles of half the continent, to form 
coalitions which were instantly broken, to give subsidies which were 
never earned ; this gave birth to the fratricidal war against American 
liberty, with all its disgraceful defeats, and all its barren victories, 
and all the massacres of the Indian hatchet, and all the bloody con- 
tracts of the Hessian slaughter-house ; this it was which, in the war 
against the French republic, induced us to send thousands and tens 
of thousands of our bravest troops to die in West Indian hospitals, 
while the armies of our enemies were pouring over the Rhine and 
the Alps. When a colonial acquisition has been in prospect, we 
have thought no expenditure extravagant, no interference perilous. 
Gold has been to us as dust, and blood as water. Shall we never 
learn wisdom? Shall we never cease to prosecute a pursuit wilder 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 91 

than the wildest dreams of alchemy, with all the credulity and all 
the profusion of Sir Epicure Mammon? 

< ' Those who maintain that settlements so remote conduce to the 
military or maritime power of nations, fly in the face of history." 20 

Yet to-day the United States is flying in the face of history, and 
her course is not only that of bad principle, but also of bad policy. 
But to return to the matter of the principle involved. The war of 
the Revolution — the war which effected the separation between these 
United States and Great Britain — was fundamentally, aDd was 
fought for four long years exclusively, against the colonial system 
of Europe. This is a most important fact. In a war against that 
system, this nation originated; and that not as a matter of policy, 
but as a matter of principle. In the commencement of that struggle 
the Fathers of this nation did not contemplate independence from 
the mother land. ' ' When the people of Rhode Island burned the 
British war sloop ' Gaspee ' in Narragansett Bay, and the people of 
Massachusetts threw overboard the cargo of tea in Boston Harbor, 
they acted as British subjects, proclaiming their loyalty to the crown 
of England. When Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Light- 
Horse Harry Lee met at the old Raleigh tavern in Williamsburg, 
Va. , and indorsed the action of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, 
they proclaimed themselves English subjects, loyal to the king, 
and only demanded the rights that were given to them as English- 
men by Magna Charta, and the Bill of Rights. 

' ' What is the colonial system against which our Fathers pro- 
tested ? — It is based upon the fundamental idea that the people of 
immense areas of territory can be held as subjects, never to become 
citizens ; that they must pay taxes, and be impoverished by govern- 
mental exaction without having anything to do with the legislation 
under which they live. 

"Against taxation without representation our Fathers fought for 
the first four years of the Revolution, struggling against the system 
which England then attempted to impose upon them, and which was 
graphically described by Thomas Jefferson as the belief that nine 
tenths of mankind were born bridled and saddled, and the other 
tenth booted and spurred to ride them." 21 



20 Essay on the West Indies. 

21 Speech, Senator George G. Vest, United States Senate, Dec. 13, 



92 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

While it is true that this nation originated in a struggle against 
the colonial system, it is also true that the nation or the government 
is not prohibited by any natural or human law from acquiring terri- 
tory, but always within the limitations of right. All territory that 
is acquired outside of the seat of the national capital, dockyards, 
arsenals, etc., must be acquired with the idea that it will be admitted 
to statehood just as soon as possible, and the government has no 
right to acquire territory with any other purpose in view. This is 
so in the very nature of things ; were it otherwise, there would be a 
violation of the fundamental principles that all men are created 
equal, and that governments derive their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed. More than this, it has been most ably set 
forth in one of the most famous decisions ever handed down by the 
Supreme Court of the United States: — 

' ' There is certainly no power given by the Constitution to the 
federal government to establish or maintain colonies bordering on 
the United States or at a distance, to be ruled and governed at its 
own pleasure, nor to enlarge its territorial limits in any way except 
by the admission of new States. That power is plainly given ; and 
if a new State is admitted, it needs no further legislation by Con- 
gress, because the Constitution itself defines the relative rights and 
powers and duties of the State and the citizens of the State and the 
federal government. But no power is given to acquire a territory 
to lie held and governed permanently in that character. 

' ' And, indeed, the power exercised by Congress to acquire terri- 
tory and establish a government there, according to its own unlim- 
ited discretion, was viewed with great jealousy by the leading states- 
men of the day. And in the Federalist (No. 38), written by Mr. 
Madison, he speaks of the acquisition of the Northwestern Territory 
by the Confederated States, by the cession from Virginia, and the 
establishment of a government there, as an exercise of power not 
warranted by the articles of confederation, and dangerous to the 
liberties of the people. And he urges the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion as a security and safeguard against such an exercise of power. 

< ' We do not mean, however, to question the power of Congress 
in this respect. The power to expand the territory of the United 
States by the admission of new States is plainly given; and in the 
construction of this power by all the departments of the govern- 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM NATIONAL APOSTASY. 93 

ment, it has been held to authorize the acquisition of territory not 
fit for admission at the time, but to be admitted as soon as its popu- 
lation and situation would entitle it to admission. It is acquired to 
become a State, and not to be held as a colony and governed by 
Congress with absolute authority; and as the propriety of admitting 
a new State is committed to the sound judgment of Congress, the 
power to acquire territory for that purpose, to be held by the United 
States until it is in a suitable condition to become a State upon 
an equal footing with the other States, must rest upon the same 
discretion." 22 

It is true that the Dred Scott descision was the cause of a vast 
amount of discussion and bitter feeling; but in this part of the 
decision the entire bench of nine judges concurred, and Justice 
McLean in his dissenting opinion emphasized and elaborated the 
question in point. Said he : — 

< ' In organizing the government of a Territory, Congress is 
limited to means appropriate to the attainment of the constitutional 
object. No powers can be exercised which are prohibited by the 
Constitution, or which are contrary to its spirit; so that, whether 
the object may be the protection of the property and persons of 
purchasers of the public lands or of communities who have been 
annexed to the Union by conquest or purchase, they are initiatory to 
the establishment of State governments, and no more power can be 
claimed or exercised than is necessary to the attainment of that end. 
This is the limitation of all the Federal powers." 23 

These legal opinons clearly set forth the lack of power in this 
government to hold Territories as colonies not to be admitted as 
States, and with no prospect of becoming States. In fact, in both 
of these opinions < ' the fundamental idea is conveyed that all the 
power of Congress in regard to the Territories is to be exercised as 
an initiatory process to their becoming States of the American 
Union." 

These principles have formed a part of the political faith of men 
of all parties until within the last few months, and the actions of 
the government have uniformly been in harmony with them. 

The first land held by the United States not in the form of a 



22 Dred Scott vs. Sandford. 

23 Dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Mc Lean, Dred Scott vs. Sandford. 



04 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

State was the Northwestern Territory ceded by Virginia. It em- 
braced the area now occupied by the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan, Wisconsin, and a part of Minnesota. During the time 
when the constitutional convention was holding its sittings, the Con- 
gress of the Confederation was considering the matter of the govern- 
ment of the Northwest Territory. On July 13, 1787, that body 
passed the ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory. 
It is one of the finest statues of statecraft that has ever been erected. 
It was sculptured by the same hand that chiseled the Declaration of 
Independence. Its existence and binding efficacy were expressly 
recognized in the legislation of the first Congress under the Consti- 
tution, that of 1789. It contains this provision : — 

" Sec. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil 
and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, 
their laws and constitutions, are erected ; to fix and establish those 
principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments 
which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said Territory; to 
provide, also, for the establishment of States and permanent gov- 
ernment therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal 
councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early 
periods as may be consistent with the general interest. 

"Sec. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority 
aforesaid, that the following articles shall be considered as articles 
of compact between the original States and the people and the States 
of the said territory, and forever remain unalterable unless by 
common consent." 24 

In the carrying out of the letter and the spirit of this ordinance 
is the application of the whole principle involved. The ordinance 
distinctly mentions the "establishment of States and permanent gov- 
ernment, " showing conclusively that in the minds of the Fathers the 
power of the federal government to hold and rule this Territory was 
only temporary. 

Again, on April 30, 1803, the United States government com- 
pleted the purchase of Louisiana from France. ' ' The territory 
thus acquired embraced the area now occupied by the States of 
Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, all but the southwest corner of 
Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, Nebraska, 

« Revised Statutes of the United States. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 95 

Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains and north of the Arkansas 
River, the two Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, 
most of Wyoming, and the present Indian Territory." The treaty 
with France by which this cession was provided contains a manifes- 
tation of the same principle : — 

' ' The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated 
into the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possi- 
ble, according to the principles of the federal Constitution, to the 
enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens 
of the United States ; and in the meantime they shall be maintained 
and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and 
the religion which they profess." 25 

At the time of the making of this treaty Thomas Jefferson was 
president of the United States, and James Madison was secretary of 
state. Moreover, the treaty was signed by James Monroe and by 
Robert Livingston, and was ratified while many of the framers of 
the Constitution were still at the helm of the ship of state The 
whole furnishes a clear and lucid commentary upon the understand- 
ing of these men as to the principle of the government of new 
territory. 

The next territory which was added to the national domain was 
that of the Floridas. These, by the terms of the treaty of Wash- 
ington, were ceded to us by Spain, Feb. 22, 1819. This treaty 
provides : — 

' « The inhabitants of the territories which his Catholic Majesty 
cedes to the United States by this treaty shall be incorporated in the 
Uuion of the United States as soon as may be consistent with the 
principles of the Federal Constitution, and admitted to the enjoy- 
ment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens 
of the United States. " 26 

Then came the annexation of Texas, March 1, 1845. Texas 
was annexed, and admitted to statehood by one and the same act, 
so of course no provision concerning the civil and religious status 
of the inhabitants was necessary. 

Following this was the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Feb. 2, 
1848. By this the United States acquired from Mexico the territory 

25 Article 3, Treaty of Cession. 

26 Article 6. 



96 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

included in the States of California, Nevada, Utah, the greater part of 
Arizona, the larger part of New Mexico, Colorado west of the Kocky 
Mountains, and the southwestern part of Wyoming. This increase 
of territory was further added to by the Gadsden purchase from 
Mexico, Dec. 30, 1853, which now constitutes the southern part 
of the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona. This treaty says : — 

' ' The Mexicans, who in the territory aforesaid shall not pre- 
serve the character of citizens of the Mexican republic, conform- 
ably with what is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incor- 
porated into the Union of the United States, and be admitted at the 
proper time (to be judged by the Congress of the United States) 
to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, 
according to the principles of the Constitution, and in the meantime 
shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their 
liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of their 
religion without restriction." 27 

This article was also adopted as an article of the Gadsden treaty. 
And again in the Alaskan treaty it was provided that ' ' the inhab- 
itants . . . shall be admitted to the enjoj'ment of all the rights, 
advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States." 

This brings us down to the present time and to the acquisition 
just recently made. Now all these treaties prove beyond the 
shadow of a doubt that, until "within the last lew months, at most, 
this nation was utterly opposed to the colonial policy, that we con- 
sidered it subversive of our fundamental principles, and that in each 
and every case where territory was acquired, it was stipulated in 
clear and distinct language that such territory should be admitted 
to statehood in accordance with the principles of the Federal 
Constitution. It therefore follows that the record of the United 
States, until the present crisis, has been unanimously in support 
of the principles of the Declaration of Independence and of the 
Constitution of the United States. 

But now the United States has purchased the Philippine Islands 
from Spain, and has paid to that government therefor the sum of 
twenty million dollars. For this price, paid to another nation, ten 
million men, women, and children have become the property of 
these United States. No one dreams that the nation will make 



" Article 0. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 97 

slaves of them ; but is not the principle involved a dangerous one ? 
Is it not a step down from the noblest plane of national princi- 
ple? These people, however, declare that the title of Spain is 
not good, and refuse to come under submission. And the United 
States is now engaged in telling them plainly that she expects to rule 
them without their consent, whether they like it or not. For in- 
stance, in a recent speech the chief executive of the nation said: 

"Did we ask their consent to liberate them from Spanish sov- 
ereignty, or to enter Manila Bay and destroy the Spanish sea power 
there? We did not ask these. We were obeying a higher moral 
obligation which rested upon us, and which did not require any- 
body's consent. Every present obligation has been met and fulfilled 
in the expulsion of Spanish sovereignty from the islands, and while 
the war was in progress we could not ask their views. Nor can we 
now ask their consent." 28 

How different is this from the words found in his annual mes- 
sage, under date of Dec. 6, 1897: — 

' ' Of the untried measures there remain only recognition of the 
insurgents as belligerents, recognition of the independence of Cuba, 
neutral intervention to end the war by imposing a rational compro- 
mise between the contestants, and intervention in favor of one or the 
other party. I speak not of forcible annexation, for that can not 
be thought of. That, by our code of morality, would be criminal 
aggression." 

Codes of morality can not change, because morals are themselves 
fixed and unchangeable. But the United States simply abandoned 
' ' her code of morality, " and is now engaged in < ' criminal aggression. " 
For it is just as much a matter of criminal aggression to attempt the 
"forcible annexation" of the Philippines, as it would have been to 
attempt the forcible annexation of Cuba. In principle there can 
not possibly be any difference between the two cases. And when 
the president of the United States announces that he can not ask 
the consent of the Filipinos to allow him to govern them, he 
virtually proclaims a war of extermination. And when the com- 
manding general of the American army in the Philippines demands 
unconditional surrender, and nothing but that, he also proclaims a 
war of extermination. But the Filipinos are fighting simply for 

28 Mc Kinley, Boston Speech. 

7 



08 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

their freedom; hence this war is one of extermination against free- 
dom. Well has Professor Sumner said: — 

"The question of imperialism, then, is the question whether we 
are going to give the lie to the origin of our own national existence 
by establishing a colonial system of the old Spanish type, even if we 
have to sacrifice our own existing civil and political system to do it. 
I submit that it is a strange incongruity to utter grand platitudes 
about the blessings of liberty, etc. , which we are going to impart to 
these people, and to begin by refusing to extend the Constitution 
over them, and still more by throwing the Constitution into the 
gutter here at home. If you take away the Constitution, what is 
the American liberty and all the rest? — Nothing but a lot of 
phrases. . . . 

< ' The cold and unnecessary cruelty of the Spaniards to the abor- 
igines is appalling, even if when compared with the treatment of 
the aborigines by other Europeans. A modern economist stands 
aghast at the economic measures adopted by Spain, as well in regard 
to her domestic policy as to her colonies. It seems as if these 
measures could only have been inspired by some demon of folly, 
they were so destructive to her prosperity. She possesses a large 
literature from the last three centuries, in which her publicists dis- 
cuss with amazement the question whether it was a blessing or a 
curse to get the Indies, and why, with all the supposed conditions 
of prosperity in her hands, she was declining all the time. 

' ' We now hear it argued that she is well rid of her colonies, and 
that if she will devote her energies to her internal development, and 
rid her politics of the corruption of colonial officials and interests, 
she may be regenerated. That is a rational opinion. It is the best 
diagnosis of her condition, and the best prescription of a remedy 
which the occasion has called forth. But what, then, will happen 
to the state which has taken over her colonies? I can see no answer 
except that that nation, with them, has taken over the disease, and 
that it now is to be corrupted by exploiting dependent communities 
just as she has been. That it stands exposed to this danger is 
undeniable." 

These words state precisely what has been done and accom- 
plished by this attempt to forcibly annex the Philippines. The 
nation has laid off the beautiful garments of righteous principles, 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 99 

and in their place has donned the cast-off rags of despotism and of 
Spain. Well has Senator Tillman said : — 

' « As far as my observation goes, and as I understand the pres- 
ent status of the American people, we have no Constitution left." 29 

"No man," said Abraham Lincoln, " is good enough to govern 
another man without that other man's consent. When the white 
man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs 
himself and also another man that is more than self-government, — 
that is despotism." 30 

It is sad, but it is so, that the United States is wandering from 
the bright path of her past and glorious career. No one dreams of 
admitting the Filipinos to the full privileges of citizenship. It is 
argued that they are not fit for this in any way, that they have not 
the mental qualifications, etc. This may all be true, and if it is, it 
furnishes one of the strongest proofs possible that the United States 
should let the islands and the people inhabiting them entirely alone. 
The Negritos, the Malays, the Visayos, the Moros, the Igorrotes, the 
Spanish Mestizos, the Chinese, and the Chinese Mestizos certainly form 
a witch's caldron which it would be utterly impossible to admit through 
their representatives into the Senate or House of Representatives of 
the United States. I will not deny this ; nobody will deny it. Then 
the only thing to do is to let them alone, and let them govern them- 
selves. Undoubtedly they can not manage a government on exactly 
the same lines that we can ; ' ' but there is a fundamental truth in 
republican government, that a people are entitled only to such gov- 
ernment as they can maintain. Any government which they can 
maintain, which brings order and peace to the people, is the govern- 
ment which they have the right to have and ought to have, and we 
have no right to interfere and say to them, ' Unless you can main- 
tain a better government than you now have, one as good as ours, 
you must let us manage your affairs, and we will give you a better 
government. ' A government of the people and by the people may 
not always be the highest form of government, but if it brings peace 
and protection to the people, and is the best they can do, it is all 
that we can demand of them." 31 



29 Speech, United States Senate, Feb. 9, 1899. 

so Speech at Peoria, 111., Oct. 16, 1854. 

3i Speech of Hon. H. M. Teller, United States Senate. 



100 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

On the other hand, if they are made dependencies, as it is now 
seriously proposed to do, ' ' then we shall for the first time since the 
abolition of slavery, again have two kinds of Americans ; Americans 
of the first class, who enjoy the privilege of taking part in the gov- 
ernment in accordance with our old constitutional principles, and 
Americans of the second class, who are to be ruled in a substantially 
arbitrary fashion by the Americans of the first class, through con- 
gressional legislation, and the action of the national executive, not to 
speak of individual ' masters ' arrogating to themselves powers 
beyond the law. 

' ' This will be a difference no better — nay, rather somewhat 
worse — than that which a century and a quarter ago existed between 
Englishmen of the first class and Englishmen of the second class; 
the first represented by King George and the British Parliament, 
and the second by the American colonists. This difference called 
forth that great paean of human liberty, the American Declaration 
of Independence — a document which, I regret to say, seems, owing 
to the intoxication of conquest, to have lost much of its charm 
among some of our fellow citizens. Its fundamental principle was 
that < governments derive their just powers from the consent of the 
governed.' We are now told that we have never fully lived up to 
that principle, and that, therefore, in our new policy we may cast it 
aside altogether. But I say to you that, if we are true believers in 
democratic government, it is our duty to move in the direction 
toward the full realization of that principle, and not in the direc- 
tion away from it. If you tell me that we can not govern the 
people of those new possessions in accordance with that principle, 
then I answer that this is a good reason why this democracy should 
not attempt to govern them at all. 

"If we do, we shall transform the government of the people, 
for the people, and by the people, for which Abraham Lincoln lived, 
into a government of one part of the people, the strong, over another 
part, the weak. Such an abandonment of a fundamental principle as 
a permanent policy may at first seem to bear only upon more or less 
distant dependencies, but it can hardly fail in its ultimate effects to 
disturb the rule of the same principle in the conduct of democratic 
government at home. And I warn the American people that a 
democracy can not so deny its faith as to the vital conditions of its 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 101 

being, it can not long play the king over subject populations, with- 
out creating within itself ways of thinking and habits of action most 
dangerous to its own vitality, — most dangerous especially to those 
classes of society which are the least powerful in the assertion, and 
the most helpless in the defense, of their rights. Let the poor, and 
the men who earn their bread by the labor of their hands, pause and 
consider well before they give their consent to a policy so deliberately 
forgetful of the equality of rights. . . . They will be told, as they 
are now told, that we are in it, and can not honorably get out of it; 
that destiny, and Providence, and duty demand it; that it would be 
cowardly to shrink from our new responsibilities ; that those popula- 
tions can not take care of themselves, and that it is our mission to 
let them have the blessings of our free institutions; and that we 
must have new markets for our products ; that those countries are 
rich in resources, and that there is plenty of money to be made by 
taking them ; that the American people can whip anybody, and do 
anything they set out to do; and that 'Old Glory ' should float over 
every land on which we can lay our hands. 

' ' Those who have yielded to such cries once will yield to them 
again. Conservative citizens will tell them that thus the homogene- 
ousness of the people of the Republic, so essential to the working 
of our democratic institutions, will be irretrievably lost; that our 
race troubles, already dangerous, will be infinitely aggravated; and 
that the government, of, by, and for the people will be in immi- 
nent danger of fatal demoralization. They will be cried down as 
pusillanimous pessimists, who are no longer American patriots. 
The American people will be driven on and on by the force of 
events, as Napoleon was when started on his career of limitless con- 
quest. This is imperialism as now advocated. Do we wish to pre- 
vent its excesses? Then we must stop at the beginning, before 
taking Porto Rico. If we take that island, not even to speak of the 
Philippines, we shall have placed ourselves on the incline plane, and 
roll on and on, no longer masters of our own will, until we have 
reached the bottom. And where will that bottom be? Who 
knows?" 32 

The United States has already taken Porto Rico. She has 
already started down the incline plane; she has already commenced 

32 Oarl Schurz, convocation address, University of Chicago, Jan. 4, 1899. 



THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

to roll on; she is no longer mastei of her will; and she will surely 
reach the bottom ; and as is pertinently asked by this great states- 
man, "Where will that bottom be? Who knows?" 

A war begun for humanity's sake has been turned from its high 
and holy purpose into a war which has for its purpose a different 
aim and object. The fundamental principles of the Declaration of 
Independence and the Federal Constitution are no longer revered, 
but they are flung to the breezes as worthless relics, good for noth- 
ing but to " hamper the greatest nation in the world." In the days 
of the Rebellion Senator Petit styled the Declaration of Independ- 
ence as a " self-evident lie;" now a noted divine declares it to be 
a doctrine ' ' palmed off by the devil upon a credulous world. " Again 
it must be said that the theories which have ruled in the conduct 
of governmental affairs during the past few months can only be 
construed as the desertion of sacred principles once held dear by the 
nation ; and while there exists in the Philippines a state of war, there 
exists in the United States of America a state of NATIONAL APOS- 
TASY. 

In one of his speeches Lincoln once quoted these words from 
the Scriptures: "A house divided against itself can not stand." 
Then he added these words: — 

' ' I believe this government can not endure permanently half 
slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; 
I do not expect the house to fall ; but I do expect it will cease to be 
divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either 
the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and 
place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in 
the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it for- 
ward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well 
as new, North as well as South." 3;t 

And it is even now equally true that this nation can not endure 
permanently half citizen and half subject, half representative and 
half colonial, half free and half vassal. Either the principles of 
despotism and tyranny now being advocated for and exercised in the 
Philippines will be utterly renounced and stamped out, or else they 
will grow and increase in power and strength until they shall be domi- 
nant in every State of the Union from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

83 Speech at SpriDgfield, 111., June 15, 1858. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 103 

and from the Canadian line to the Gulf of Mexico. Despotism 
is a dread disease. It is insidious in its beginnings. Indulge it in 
a few remote islands, and it will begin to work, and never cease 
until it has sapped the vitality of free life out of the whole body 
politic. 

Prophetic was a recent speech: — 

"If we enter upon a colonial policy, we must expect to hear the 
command 'Silence!' issuing with increased emphasis from the 
imperialists. If a member of Congress attempts to criticize any 
injustice perpetrated by a government official against a helpless 
people, he will be warned to keep silent lest his criticisms encourage 
resistance to American authority in the Orient. 

"If an orator on the fourth of July dares to speak of unalien- 
able rights, or refers with commendation to the manner in which our 
forefathers resisted taxation without representation, he will be 
warned to keep silent lest his utterances excite rebellion among dis- 
tant subjects." 34 

Already this prophecy has begun to be fulfilled against mem- 
bers of Congress and United States senators in their places in the 
national capital; in the exercise of a rigorous press censorship; and 
in the stopping of documents in the United States mails, which 
were thought to be hurtful to the imperialistic policy. This is 
only the beginning. Restrictions of liberty of a similar nature 
but far greater in degree are bound to follow. The bottom has 
not yet been reached. 

But it is argued that there will be anarchy in the islands unless 
the people thereof are ruled by us. It is said by many that all they 
want to do is to give liberty to these poor, ignorant people, who do 
not know enough to have it for and of themselves. This has ever 
been the argument of tyrants. This was the argument made by 
King George III, when the Fathers were struggling for their inde- 
pendence. Here are his exact words : — 

" I am desirous of restoring to them the blessings of law and j 
liberty equally enjoyed by every British subject, which they have 
fatally and desperately exchanged for the calamities of war and the 
arbitrary tyranny of their chiefs." 



34 w. J. Bryan, speech at Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan. 6, 1899, on the occasion of the 
Duckworth Olub Banquet. 



104 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

"Chiefs" was the title applied by the king of Great Britain 
to Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and the other leaders 
of the revolutionists; and "chiefs" is the title applied by senators 
to Aguinaldo and his officers. On the same day that the king made 
his speech there was another man who arose to speak. I refer 
to Fox, and Fox understood what liberty was, and he loved it. Said 
he in his answer to his Majesty: — 

" But, sir, how is this blessed system of liberty to be established? 
By the bayonets of disciplined Hessians?" 

And again, how is this liberty to be established in the Philippine 
Islands. Many say, ' ' Peacefully if you can, but by powder if you 
must." "Those arguments that are made that the inferior races 
are to be treated with as much allowance as they are capable of enjoy- 
ing, that as much is to be done for them as their condition will 
allow. What are these arguments? These are the arguments that 
kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world. 
You will find that all the arguments in favor of kingcraft were 
of this class ; they always bestrode the necks of the people, not that 
they wanted to do it, but because the people were the better off for 
being ridden. . . . Turn it whatever way you will, whether it come 
from the mouth of a king as an excuse for enslaving the people 
of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a reason 
for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the same old ser- 
pent; and I hold, if that course of argumentation that is made for 
the purpose of convincing the public mind that we should not care 
about this, should be granted, it does not stop with the negro [in 
this case with the Filipino] . I should like to know if taking this 
old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are 
equal upon principle, and making exceptions to it, where will it stop? 
If one may say it does not mean a negro [a Filipino], why not 
another man say it does not mean some other man?" 35 

The armies and fleets of the United States have destroyed the 
soldiers and sailors of Spain; but they can not destroy a self-evident 
truth. Self-evident truths will burn in the breasts of all men, 
be they black, brown, or white, as long as the spark of life burns 
there. 

I can not forbear at this juncture from quoting once more from 



86 Lincoln, Speech at Chicago, 111., July 10, 1858. 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 105 

the great Lord Macaulay. He was speaking on the topic of the 
abolition of slavery in the West Indies. True, the two cases, 
slavery in the Indies and vassalage in the Philippines, are not alto- 
gether parallel. I do not for a moment hold that they are; yet 
nevertheless, the principles involved are very similar. "What his 
lordship says in regard to the causes of revolt, the freedom of the 
press, the system of slavery [or in this case vassalage], is very perti- 
nent to the present issue and the manner in which it is being 
handled: — 

"Asa friend to humanity, sir, I can not look without the great- 
est satisfaction on such a meeting assembled for such an object. 
We hear, indeed, much of the pernicious tendency of these discus- 
sions; we are told that they inflame the passions of the slave, and 
endanger the person and property of the master. ... To me it 
seems somewhat singular that such assertions should proceed from 
the same persons by whom we have been assured that the system of 
colonial slavery is the glory of the British name, the envy of the 
British peasant; that all its evils exist only in theor} r , that in its 
practical operations it is the greatest of blessings. No assertions, 
however bold and pertinacious, can possibly obtain credit when they 
so directly contradict each other. Never was any government at 
once so benignant and so insecure; never were any subjects at once 
so happy and so turbulent. Abuses merely speculative never } T et 
roused to revolt the great body of the people. An educated man of 
enlarged views and enthusiastic temper, a Thrasea or a Sidney, may 
convince himself that one form of government has a greater tend- 
ency than another to promote the happiness of mankind; and by 
such considerations he may be induced to engage in hazardous enter- 
prises. But the multitude is not thus influenced. When they are 
excited to a general revolt, it is not by speeches, it is not by pamph- 
lets, it is not by meetings ; but by physical evils, by sensible priva- 
tions, by the spoliation of the honest fruits of their industry, by the 
violation of the sacred ties of nature, by unmeasured exaction, by 
stripes, by insults, by the strong necessity of famine. These things 
sting to madness. These things turn plowshares into swords, and 
pruninghooks into spears. But when was it ever known that the 
mere exposure of theoretical evils excited a people to rebellion, 
while they were enjoying comfort and personal security? We need 



106 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

not look very far for instances. Observe the state of our own 
country! For many years hundreds have been employed in telling 
the people of England that they are debarred from their just 
rights, that they are degraded, that they are enslaved. Every day 
this is heard, read, believed by thousands. More appeals are made 
to their passions in a week than by those of the West India slaves 
in a year. Yet who lives in the apprehension of rebellion? Who, 
except in times of temporary distress, expects even a riot? Who 
does not know that, while their rights of property, person, and 
conscience are protected by law, and while they are all well fed 
and clothed, Cobbett may write away his fingers, and Hunt may 
talk away his lungs, in vain? 

' ' And yet, sir, with this example before us, we are required to 
believe that men whose situation is infinitely better than that of 
the English peasant — men whose condition is a realization of 
Utopia, a renewal of the Golden Age, an anticipation of the prophetic 
millennium — can not safely be permitted to hear a single whisper 
against the system under which they live. It requires no skilful 
interpreter to translate these forebodings of danger into confessions 
of tyranny. What are we to think of a system which, as its 
advocates tell us, can not be discussed without inciting insur- 
rection? What, again, are we to think of a system under which 
insurrections, as its advocates also tell us, can not be suppressed 
without massacre? Look at the punishments inflicted a few years 
back on the insurgents of Barbadoes, and recently on those in 
Demerara. Where, in the whole history of modern Europe, shall 
we find an instance in which the destruction of so large a pro- 
portion of the population has been deemed necessary for the safety 
of the survivors? The British subjects of the New World have 
outdone, immeasurably outdone, all the military despots, all the 
fanatic Jacobins, of the Old. Their tender mercies are more cruel 
than the vengeance of Dundee; their little fingers are thicker than 
the loins of Alva. Robespierre chastised with whips, but they 
chastise with scorpions. But we are told that this is not wanton 
cruelty; it is indispensably necessary for the peace and safety of 
the colonies! Grant it; and what then? Must not every particle of 
blame which is taken away from the agents be laid on the system? 
What must be the state of things which makes that wholesome 



AMERICAN IMPERIALISM — NATIONAL APOSTASY. 107 

severity which elsewhere would be diabolical atrocity? What are 
we to think of the condition of a people, when inflictions so tremen- 
dous are necessary to make endurance appear to them a less evil 
than rebellion? Woe to that society which has no cement but 
blood! Woe to that government, which, in the hour of success, 
must not dare to be merciful ! 

' ' I need no other testimony against the colonists than that with 
which they themselves furnish us, and that which daily and hourly 
forces itself on our notice. When I see institutions which tremble 
at every breath, — institutions which depend for support on restless 
suspicion, on raving calumny, on outrageous persecution, on military 
force, on infamous testimony, on perverted law, — I have no further 
need of witnesses or of arguments to convince me that they must be 
as flagitious and unjust as are the means by which they are upheld. 
We hear, indeed, that this system, in theory confessedly odious, is 
in practise lenient and liberal ; and abundance of local testimony is 
adduced to this effect. Local testimony is indeed invaluable when 
it can be obtained unadulterated by local interest and local prejudice ; 
but that it is adulterated I must always believe, when I see that it 
contradicts great general principles. Is it possible that the power 
with which the slave codes invest the master can be exercised with- 
out being perpetually abused? If so, then is there no truth in 
experience; then is there no consistenc}' in human nature; then is 
history a fable, and political science a juggle, and the wisdom of 
our ancestors madness, and the British constitution a name! Let us 
break up the benches of the House of Commons for firewood, and 
cut Magna Charta into battledores! These assertions, then, of our 
opponents are not, they can not be, true ; and fortunately it is not 
merely by reasoning on general principles that we are enabled to 
refute them. Out of the mouths of our adversaries themselves we 
can fully show that West Indian slavery is an evil, a great and fear- 
ful evil; an evil without any affinity to good principles, or any 
tendency to good effects; an evil so poisonous that it imparts to 
almost every antidote a nature as deadly as its own! When this 
country has been endangered either by oppressive power or by 
popular delusion, truth has still possessed one irresistible organ, 
justice one inviolable tribunal: that organ has been an English press, 
that tribunal an English jury. But in those wretched islands we 



108 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

see a press more hostile to truth than any censor, and juries more 
insensible to justice than any star-chamber. In those islands alone 
is exemplified the full meaning of the most tremendous of the 
curses denounced against the apostate Hebrews, ' I will curse your 
blessings! " 36 

The Philippines are seven thousand miles away from our west- 
ern shore. Is there no way of cementing them to the larger land 
but by blood ? Is there no truth in experience ; no consistency in 
human nature? Is history a fable, and political science a juggle; 
the wisdom of our ancestors madness, and the American Constitu- 
tion a name? If so, then let us break up the desks of the House of 
Representatives for firewood, and cut the Declaration of Independ- 
ence into battledores ! Let us put the ' ' blood-red star of Mars upon 
the flag, with a milky way of smaller luminaries to denote dependent 
States." It has been truly said that the " ramparts of republics are 
in the hearts of their freemen; " but when freemen turn into despots, 
the silent artillery of time levels those ramparts to the ground, and, 
like Samson shorn of his locks of strength, and bound to the pillars 
of the temple of the Constitution, we break them, and are ourselves 
crushed beneath the falling mass of the once symmetrical and beauti- 
ful governmental edifice, which itself becomes a shapeless heap of 
ruins, a monument of human folly and of a blasted and prematurely 
broken national life. 



ae Lord Macaulay, speech at a meeting of the Society for the Mitigation and 
Abolition of Slavery, held at Freemason's Hall, June 25, 1834. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 

Much is being said at the present time on the subject of " mani- 
fest destiny. " Reflective minds, however, are apt to consider that 
but a very small portion of those using the term have the faintest 
conception of its real meaning. It is generally referred to in con 
nection with exploitations concerning a "divine mission," a "provi- 
dential call," a "summons to duty," and "responsibility thrust upon 
us." In the majority of cases, moreover, when "manifest destiny" 
is talked about, it is embedded in an atmosphere of mystery; it is 
talked about as being something wise, wonderful, and divine, alto- 
gether too deep for the common people to understand. 

It is commonly argued that the present position of the United 
States, in and in regard to, the Philippines has been < ' thrust upon 
us," that it is a part of our " responsibility as a world-power," which 
our own greatness forces us to accept ; that we are now ' ' performing 
a duty" toward an "inferior race," and that this duty is imposed 
upon us by Providence and our own position, prior to any request 
from us, and without awaiting our consent. 

Now nothing can be more true than that Providence controls in 
the affairs of nations as well as in the affairs of men. Nations are 
composed of men, and it is insupposable that God could control in the 
affairs of every unit composing a whole, and yet not control in the 
affairs of that whole. Thus David said: "Put them in fear, 
Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men." 1 

During the years of which the Bible records form a contempora- 
neous history, we read of God's giving kings their kingdoms, and 
nations their place in the earth. The case of Nebuchadnezzar will 
illustrate the point. Concerning him and his kingdom it is writ- 
ten: — 

< < In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah 
king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 

i Ps. 9:20. 

[109] 



110 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put 
them upon thy neck, and send them to the king of Edom, and to 
the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king 
of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers 
which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; and com- 
mand them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters ; I have made 
the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my 
great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto 
whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these 
lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant ; 
and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And 
all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the 
very time of his land come : and then many nations and great kings 
shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the 
nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar 
the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke 
of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, 
with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until 
I have consumed them by his hand." 2 

Now what was true of Nebuchadnezzar in his sphere, is equally 
true of every nation in its sphere. Nevertheless, because God gave 
Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom, and Babylon a great place as a 
"world-power," it did not keep either from going astray, and doing 
things which were neither lawful nor right. This Nebuchadnezzar 
became proud because the glory of his kingdom grew and increased. 
Then, heathen though he was, a dream was given him by the Al- 
mighty, and this dream he told the prophet Daniel, who interpreted 
it for him. In the dream and the interpretation there is a truth 
stated several times which is vital in the consideration of ' ' manifest 
destiny." Here is the dream: — 

' ' I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in 
my palace: I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts 
upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. . . . Thus 
were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a 
tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 
The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto 

2 Jer. 27 : 1-8. 



MANIFEST DESTINY. Ill 

heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: the leaves 
thereof wei'e fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for 
all : the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the 
heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I 
saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher 
and an hoi}* one came down from heaven ; he cried aloud, and said 
thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches; shake off his 
leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, 
and the fowls from his branches: nevertheless leave the stump of 
his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in 
the tender grass of the field ; and let it be wet with the dew of 
heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of 
the earth: let his heart be changed from man's and let a beast's 
heart be given unto him ; and let seven times pass over him. This 
matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the 
word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know 
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to 
whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. This 
dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, Belteshaz- 
zar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise 
men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the inter- 
pretation thereof: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods 
is in thee. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was aston- 
ied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, 
and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation 
thereof trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My Lord, 
the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation there- 
of to thine enemies. The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and 
was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight 
thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the fruit 
thereof much, and in it was meat for all ; under which the beasts 
of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the 
heaven had their habitation: it is thou, king, that art grown 
and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reaches unto 
the heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. And whereas 
the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, 
and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the 
stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron 



112 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the 
dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, 
till seven times pass over him ; this is the interpretation, King, 
and this is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my 
lord the king : that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwell- 
ing shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee 
to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, 
and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most 
High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he 
will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree 
roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt 
have known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, king, let my 
counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteous- 
ness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may 
be a lengthening of thy tranquillity." 3 

Three times in the dream and the interpretation is the truth 
emphasized that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men." 
And this was told by a dream, interpreted by a prophet to the king 
of the greatest " world-power" of that time. All the things spoken 
of in the dream came true. Nebuchadnezzar was driven from his 
throne, and dwelt with the beasts of the field for seven years. At 
the end of that time, he says himself : — 

' ' I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine 
understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and 
I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is 
an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to 
generation : and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as 
nothing : and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, 
and among the inhabitants of the earth : and none can stay his 
hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ? At the same time my 
reason returned unto me ; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine 
honor and brightness returned unto me ; and my counselors and my 
lords sought unto me ; and I was established in my kingdom, and 
excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar 
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works 
are truth, and his ways judgment : and those that walk in pride he 
is able to abase."* 



8 Dan. 4:4-27. * Dan. 4: 34-37. 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 113 

Nebuchadnezzar learned the lesson which the King of kings knew 
that it was necessary for him to learn. But when in later days his 
grandson Belshazzar came to the throne, he refused to learn this 
important lesson, and to him it was that the handwriting appeared 
upon the wall, and he it was whose kingdom was taken away, and 
given to the Medes and Persians. He was reminded of what had 
happened to his grandfather, in these words : < ' And he [Nebuchad- 
nezzar] was driven from the sons of men ; and his heart was made 
like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses : they fed 
him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of 
heaven ; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom 
of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And 
thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though 
thou knewest all this." 5 

Thus four times directly, and once indirectly, is it taught in 
these two chapters of this one book that the Most High ruleth in the 
kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Is there 
another truth in all the Bible that is emphasized so strongly ? And 
this is just as true to-day as it was then, for it was written "to the 
intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the 
kingdom of men." It is for us, the living, that all this was written; 
and it was written for us because it applies in our time. "He 
looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. 
He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. . . . 
He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the 
nations, and straiteneth them again." 6 

This is the basis of the Bible doctrine concerning God's part in 
the affairs of nations. As far as Providence is concerned, this is 
"manifest destiny." But the destiny of a nation, the same as the 
destiny of an individual, is a matter of choice, and not a matter of 
chance. It is in the power of the United States to choose the path 
in which it will hereafter walk. When once that path is chosen 
and entered upon, it may not be so easy, yea, it may not be possible, 
to turn back, and take another course. This is just as true of men 
as of nations. The voluntary choice of the government of the 
United States has put the nation in the Philippines. She has 



s Dan. 5 : 21, 22. « Job 12 : 18, 19, 23. 



114 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

chosen to enter these islands, not as a republican, but as a mortar- 
chical form of government. A war is now being waged to compel 
the Filipinos to accept this government without their consent. Thus 
she has chosen to abandon the tracks of the forefathers, and to re- 
turn, like the prodigal son, to the doctrines of Rome and of Europe. 
All this has been done during the hour of victory and of power, and 
at a time when the nation was completely master of the situation, 
find entirely free to do just as she pleased. Having done all this, 
there is now a "manifest destiny" before the United States. It is 
so manifest that all can see it. 

When the United States went to war with Spain, the Philippine 
Islands were in revolt against that government. Concerning this 
the United States consul at Manila wrote : — 

' ' There is no peace, and has been none for about two years. 
Conditions here and in Cuba are practically alike. War exists, 
battles are of almost daily occurrence, ambulances bring in many 
wounded, and hospitals are full. . . . The crown forces have not 
been able to dislodge a rebel army within ten miles of Manila, and 
last Saturday a battle was there fought, and five left dead on 
the field. 

"The governor-general, who is amiable and popular, having 
resigned, wishes credit for pacification, and certain rebel leaders 
were given a cash bribe of $1,650,000 to consent to public deporta- 
tion to China. This bribe and deportation only multiplied claim- 
ants, and fanned the fires of discontent. 

1 ' Insurgents demand fewer exactions from church and state, a 
half of public offices, and fewer church holidays, which seriously 
retard business. 

" A republic is organized here as in Cuba. Insurgents are being 
armed and drilled, are rapidly increasing in numbers and efficiency, 
and all agree that a general uprising will come as soon as the 
governor- general embarks for Spain. . . . All authorities now 
agree that unless the crown largely re-enforces its army here, it 
will lose possession." 7 

Soon after this Mr. Williams wrote again : — 

"Insurrection is rampant; many killed, wounded, and made 
prisoners on both sides. A battle-ship, the ' Don Juan de 
Austria,' sent this week to the northern part of Luzon to co-operate 
with a hmd force of two thousand despatched to succor local forces, 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 115 

overwhelmed by the rebels. Last night special squads of mounted 
police were scattered at danger points to save Manila." 8 

Thus it appears that two years ago the Filipinos were fighting 
for their freedom against the government and the tyranny of Spain. 
This was the condition of things when the United States government 
declared war against the throne of Madrid. With them — the Fili- 
pinos — the struggle was not a fitful insurrection, but a determined 
rebellion in behalf of government by the consent of the governed. 

On the reverse side of the great seal of the United States is the 
inscription in Latin, Nbvics ordo seculorum, which translated means, 
" A new order of things." On the same side of the seal are also 
the words, "God hath favored the undertaking." But now the 
nation is abandoning the new order of things, and deciding that 
after all Great Britain was right. On this point a noted historian 
and citizen of Boston, Mass., has well said: — 

' ' We now abandon the traditional and distinctively American 
grounds, and accept those of Europe, and especially of Great 
Britain, which heretofore we have made it the basis of our faith to 
deny and repudiate. 

"With this startling proposition in mind, consider again the 
several propositions advanced; the first, as regards the so-called 
inferior races. Our policy toward them, instinctive and formulated, 
has been either to exclude or destroy, or to leave them in the ful- 
ness of time to work out their own destiny undisturbed by us; fully 
believing that, in this way, we in the long run best subserved the 
interests of mankind. Europe, and Great Britain especially, adopted 
the opposite policy. They held that it was incumbent on the supe- 
rior to go forth and establish dominion over the inferior race, and 
to hold and develop vast imperial possessions, and colonial depend- 
encies. They saw their interest and duty in developing systems of 
docile tutelage; we sought our inspirations in the rough school of 
self-government. Under this head the result, then, is distinct, clean- 
cut, indisputable. To this conclusion have we come at last. The 
Old World — Europe and Great Britain — were after all, right, and 
we of the New World have been wrong. From every point of view,— 
religious, ethnic, commercial, political, — we can not, it is now claimed, 
too soon abandon our traditional position and assume theirs. Again, 
Europe and Great Britain have never admitted that men were ere- 



116 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

ated equal, or that the consent of the governed was a condition 
of government. They have, on the contrary, emphatically denied 
both propositions. We now concede that, after all, there was great 
basis for their denial; that certainly, it must be admitted, our fore- 
fathers were hasty, at least, in reaching their conclusions; they gen- 
eralized too broadly. We do not frankly avow error, and we still 
think the assent of the governed to a government a thing desirable 
to be secured, under suitable circumstances, and with proper limi- 
tations ; but, if it can not conveniently be secured, we are advised 
on New England senatorial authority that ' the consent of some of 
the governed ' will be sufficient, we ourselves selecting those proper 
to be consulted. Thus in such cases as certain islands of the Antil- 
les, Hawaii, and the communities of Asia, we admit that, so far as 
the principles at the basis of the Declaration are concerned, Great 
Britain was right, and our ancestors were, not perhaps wrong, but 
too general, and of the eighteenth century in their statements. To 
that extent we have outgrown the Declaration of 1776, and have 
become as wise now as Great Britain was then. At any rate, we 
are not above learning. ' Only dead men and idiots never change ; ' 
and the people of the United States are nothing unless open-minded. 
"So, also, as respects the famous Boston 'tea-party,' and taxa- 
tion without representation. Great Britain then affirmed this right 
in the case of colonies and dependencies. Taught by the lesson of 
our war of Independence, she has since abandoned it. We now take 
it up, and are to-day, as one of the new obligations toward the 
heathen imposed upon us by Providence, formulating systems of 
inposts and tariffs for our new dependencies, wholly distinct from 
our own, and directly inhibited by our Constitution, in regard to 
which systems those dependencies have no representative voice. 
They are not to be consulted as to the kind of door, 'open' or 
1 closed, ' behind which they are to exist In taking this position 
it is difficult to see why we must not also incidentally admit that, 
in the great contention preceding our war of independence, the first 
armed clash of which resounded here in Lexington, Great Britain 
was more nearly right than the exponents of the principles for which 
those 'embattled farmers' contended." 7 



7 " [mperialism and tbo Tracks of our Forefathers," a paper read by Charles 
Francis Adams before the Lexington, Mass., Historical Society. 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 117 

Sad though it be to pen it, it is even true that the great princi- 
ples which were born at Lexington and Concord were buried at 
Manila, and the wheels of time turned back, and the old order of 
things substituted for the new. This is American imperialism. 
This is national apostasy ; and since the course upon which the nation 
has entered is so manifest, the destiny to which she is doomed is 
equally manifest, — the condition of the military nations of the Old 
World, upon whom she has for so long looked down with pitying 
glances. Nations may be defeated by the acts of others, but they 
can be degraded only by their own. She has not been defeated by 
the deeds of others, but she has been degraded, and is even now being 
dragged into the mire, by her own. Her character as a nation, first 
formulated in the war of the Revolution, regenerated and reconse- 
crated in the war of the Rebellion, has been ruthlessly sacrificed 
to colonial greed and rapacious lust. Awake! Fathers of the 
Republic, ere it is too late, and call back your posterity ere they 
stray into paths from which there is no returning! 

But it is argued that these people are not capable of self-govern- 
ment. On this point one who ought to know, — Admiral Dewey 
himself, — whose voice is worthy of respect, has said: — 

"In a telegram sent to the department on June 23, I expressed 
the opinion that ' these people (the Filipinos) are far superior in 
their intelligence, and more capable of self-government than the 
natives of Cuba, and I am familiar with both races.' Fuither inter- 
course with them has confirmed me in this opinion." 8 

And again, Consul Wildman, of Hongkong, says: — 

"I have lived among the Malays of the Straits Settlements, and 
have been an honored guest of the different sultanates. I have 
watched their system of government, and have admired their intelli- 
gence, and I rank them high among the semicivilized nations of the 
earth. The natives of the Philippine Islands belong to the Malay 
race, and while there are very few pure Malays among their leaders, 
I think the r stock has rather been improved than debased by admix- 
ture. I consider that the forty or fifty Philippine leaders, with whose 
fortunes I have been very closely connected, are the superiors of 
both the Malays and the Cubans. Aguinaldo, Agoncilla, and Sandico 



s Admiral Dewey to secretary of navy, Aug. 29, 1898. Senate Document No. 62, 
part 1, Fifty-fifth Congress, third session. 



118 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

are all men who would be leaders in their separate departments in 
any country; while among the wealthy Manila men who live in 
Hongkong, and who are spending their money liberally for the over- 
throw of the Spaniards and for annexation to the United States, — 
men like the Cortes family and the Basa family, — would hold their 
own among bankers and lawyers anywhere." 9 

The kind of men who form the Filipino congress has been 
described by Mr. Roberson, who himself visited the congress while 
it was in session. He gives a very favorable account of the charac- 
ter and ability of the members. Of the eighty-three members sit- 
ting, seventeen were graduates of European universities, and the 
president, Pedro Paterno, took his degree as D. D. in the University 
of Madrid, and afterward received his degree of LL. D. from the 
University of Salamanca. His books are of such reputation that 
they have been translated into German. 

It is said that we can Americanize these people. We can not, 
we dare not, do it. To educate them would be to make rebels of 
them. Could we teach them the history of our glorious past? 
Could we tell them of the deeds of the Fathers in behalf of freedom 
and independence? Just as surely as we did, the spark of liberty 
and independence would be kindled in their breasts, and they would 
demand of us by what right we were their masters. Our only hope 
would be to keep them in superstition and ignorance. It is far 
easier for Great Britain to rule colonies and to better their condi- 
tion than it is for us. She has no past like ours. She never had 
a war of independence, nor did she ever take her stand upon the 
principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent 
of the governed, or that all men are created equal. While upon 
our own platform of eternal truth, we stood upon a plane immeasur- 
ably superior to any which it was possible for her to occupy. Now 
that we have fallen from our first estate, and lost our Edenic purity, 
we are weaker and more impotent than it is possible for her to be. 
This is manifest destiny as far as the governing of the Filipinos 
is concerned. 

It has been urged by many that there is a duty incumbent upon 
the United States to take the Philippines for the purpose of Chris- 



o United States Consul Kounsevelle Wildman to Mr. Moore, No. 63, Hong- 
kong, July 18, 1898. Senate Document No. 62, part 1. 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 119 

tianizing the natives, even although such occupation be against the 
wishes of the inhabitants, and contrary to the principle of govern- 
ment by consent. It is argued that the opportunity to purchase 
the islands constituted a "divine call" to this "Benjamin of 
nations" to enter that neglected part of the Master's vineyard. 
Zealous advocates, in earnest tones, tell of the blessings which will 
accrue to these benighted souls when an army of missionaries, filled 
with an undying love for those who know Him not, can, without 
fear of molestation, proclaim, beneath the protecting aegis of the 
stars and stripes, the sufferings of the Saviour and the joys of the 
better world. Vividly they portray how much more rapidly the 
gospel can be carried to those who know it not, when the islands 
are controlled by the government of the United States, than it could 
possibly be if these isles which wait for His law were ruled by the 
heathen. These are for the most part a devoted and consecrated 
class of people, who are thoroughly conscientious in the views they 
express. 

In these days of toil and bustle, when more is compressed into a 
decade than was formerly the portion of man's allotted span, many 
of us Christians are like Martha of Bethany, who was ' ' cumbered 
about much serving," and "careful and troubled about many 
things;" and in our anxiety to work for the Lord we neglect to 
choose the "good part," " the one thing needful," which her sister 
Mary took, and which shall not be taken away. We fail to take 
the necessary time to sit "at Jesus' feet, and hear his word." 

The weapons of carnal warfare vary and change with the onward 
march of scientific discovery. But the holy arms of the Christian 
remain ever the same. Like the Father of Lights, who changeth 
not, in them "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." The 
same arms which apostles, prophets, and our own dear Saviour used 
are the only true weapons for the Christian to-day. Beautifully 
has it been said of the Reformers and the Reformation: "The 
Reformation was accomplished in the name of a spiritual principle. 
It had proclaimed for its teacher, the word of God ; for salvation, 
faith; for king, Jesus Christ; for arms, the Holy Ghost; and had 
by these very means rejected all worldly elements. Rome had been 
established by 'the law of a carnal commandment;' the Reforma- 
tion, by ' the power of an endless life. ' " Whatever is accomplished 



120 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

in the line of Christian reformation in this day and age of the 
world, will be accomplished in the name of this same spiritual 
principle. Jesus never sought the civil power as an aid wherewith 
to accomplish his mission, and on one occasion, at least, he dis- 
tinctly refused it. 

When the Redeemer was alone in the wilderness, fasting in 
behalf of fallen man, it is written: "Again, the devil taketh him 
up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the king- 
doms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All 
these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship 
me. " 10 Here was an opportunity. The gospel was to be preached. 
The world, and all the governments of the world, stood arrayed in 
open hostility against it. But here were the kingdoms of the 
world, and the glory — the power — of them, freely offered. Could 
not the gospel be carried to better advantage if Christ controlled the 
reins of the civil power ? He did not so believe. Was not this 
whispering a " providential call, a new mission, a distinct call to 
duty, — manifest destiny?" It was a whispering, not from the 
Almighty, but from Satan, and was repulsed with the words, ' ' Get 
thee hence, Satan." 

In the garden of G-ethsemane, Peter cut off the ear of the high 
priest's servant with his sword. ' ' But Jesus answered and said, 
Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. Jesus 
therefore said unto Peter, Put up again thy sword into the sheath: 
for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword: the cup 
which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? " And to these 
words he added, ' ' Or thinkest thou that I can not beseech my Father, 
and he shall even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? " 

Again, when the Master was in the judgment hall, Pilate "called 
Jesus and said unto him, art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus 
answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell 
it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation 
and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou 
done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my 
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight. " u 

The triumphs of the gospel in those early days were won without 



w Matt. 4 : 8, 9. 
n John 18 : 33-36. 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 121 

the aid of the civil power. The blood of the martyrs was the seed 
of the church. Never did the Christian church make greater prog- 
ress than when she stood alone, unaided by any civil power. Yea, 
more than this, the times of her greatest purity and progress have 
been the times when every earthly power has been arrayed against 
her. Then it was that her members sought their Lord and Master 
most earnestly, and reflected his blest image most brightly. 

One United States senator, in the course of his speech on the 
Philippine question, declared that ' ' the Anglo-Saxon advances into 
the new regions with the Bible in one hand and a shotgun in the 
other. The inhabitants of those regions which he can not convert 
with the Bible and bring into his markets, he gets rid of with the 
shotgun." This is not altogether irony. Ministers of the Christian 
church are everywhere praising the war in these islands, and preach- 
ing that it has come about in the providence of God in order that 
the gospel may go more rapidly. Just as far as this idea gets hold 
of the Christian sects, just that far they assent to the doctrine of 
a union of church and state; just that far they are extolling that 
system of things which we hoped we had forever discarded in "the 
new order of things." Will the people whose fathers, husbands, 
brothers, and sons have been shot down in this ruthless war, be 
more ready to accept the gospel at the hands of the murderers of 
their relatives? Will it cause them to be kindly inclined toward the 
teachings of the Saviour? Will they not look upon our religion as 
being similar to that of the Mohammedans, who think it virtuous 
to propagate their faith by means of fire and sword? — Nay, verily, 
it will steel their souls against the gospel, and fill them with preju- 
dice and suspicion. Better, ten thousand times better, for a few 
missionaries to lose their lives at the hands of heathen savages than 
for heathen savages to lose their lives at the hands of those calling 
themselves Christians. The missionaries are certain of eternal life, 
but not so the poor heathen. 

Then again, if this doctrine of the Bible in one hand and the 
shotgun in the other is a good ODe for the Philippine Islands, how 
long will it be ere it is considered a good one for every State in the 
Union ? Should one religious sect get control of the governmental 
affairs, why may it not use force to compel all others to come into 
line, and think and pray as it thinks and prays ? This idea may be 
9 



122 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

received by some with ridicule, but the beginnings of the loss of 
liberty, both civil and religious, are always insidious, and very 
small precedents have oftentimes started tremendous changes in 
things. There has been persecution in the past, there is persecu- 
tion for religious views even at the present, and there will be perse- 
cution for conscience' sake in the time to come. Allow a new 
doctrine to pass unchallenged to-day, it quickly gains strength and 
standing, and by to-morrow it is heterodoxy to question its applica- 
tion. 

There have been some fearful crimes committed in the name of jus- 
tice in this gospel-enlightened land. Many a soul has suffered death 
in one horrible form or another, without having been duly convicted 
in the courts of law. Possibly it may be said with truth that there 
is no country on earth claiming to be Christian and civilized where 
there have been more deaths by mob violence, than in the United 
States. In times of excitement over vital questions our people have 
many times proved the truthfulness of the statement of Alexander 
Hamilton, that a man was a reasoning rather than a reasonable be- 
ing. In the fierce struggles between capital and labor, in times of a 
strike, a boycott, or a lockout, terrible deeds of violence and blood- 
shed have stained the nation's robe. Innocent lives have been placed 
in the most dire peril and jeopardy. It is not necessary here to 
give illustrations or enter into details. This class of crime is so 
common and so patent that the mere mention of it will suffice. 

Such deeds go to show that Christianity has still a great work 
before her in the homeland. Civilization has indeed veneered 
our natures, but it has not changed and renovated them. Our pas- 
sions are easily excited, and break loose with but small provocation. 
There is still a field for missionary effort in this part of the vineyard 
of the Man of Galilee. Even in the most recent years, yea, within 
the past few months, crimes too horrible to spread upon the pages 
of a decent book, have been committed without any chance for the 
law to take its course. These things fill the heart of the Christian 
with sadness, and they stand as a fact to be by all true followers of 
the Master deeply lamented and deplored. For nigh two thousand 
years the religion of Jesus Christ has been striving with all the power 
of the Holy Ghost to do its beneficent work upon the hearts of the 
human family. In view, however, of the awful crimes still filling 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 123 

the earth, it seems hard to believe that much has been accomplished. 
This is no reflection on the gospel, but on those who reject the gospel. 

But brutality is not confined to this class of cases. A young 
man, everywhere reported to be " pious," attends a prayer-meeting; 
after which he waylays his rival in a love affair, beats out his brains, 
and throws his body into a creek. 

A man conceals a knife, with a rapier-like point in a bundle 
which he carries under his arm, and starts out walking in a crowded 
thoroughfare, nudging people with the bundle purposely, and 
seriously wounding them as he goes along. In a State Refuge 
Home for Women horrible cruelties are practised. "Lashing to 
the floor, however, is not the worst cruelty resorted to, according to 
the evidence taken. It is said by eye-witnesses and participants 
that girls confined in houses of refuge are stripped of their clothing, 
and sometimes held by some of the employees, and at other times 
chained to the floor, and whipped with a heavy leather strap several 
feet long." Recently a young mother with a babe only five months 
old was treated in this manner. A man with plenty of money 
divests his aged wife of her clothing, fastens her under the bed, 
and leaves her to starve. Yet to all others he is perfectly sane. 

The reports from the largest city in the country are as follows: 
' ' In several quarters of the city life is no longer safe. The night 
streets of the district lying between Union Square and Long Acre 
and Seventh and Third avenues are in the possession of the disorderly 
elements. The police force is already demoralized, and the demoral- 
ization is progressing rapidly toward chaos. . . . What shall be 
done? What can be done to avert chaos, and restore order and 
security? Is it impossible for a community as intelligent as this 
to find some mean between the exasperating crushing of personal 
liberty and the terrifying domination of criminals and semi-crimi- 
nals?" 12 

Even "natural affection" seems to have deserted the mother's 
breast. A little child, five years old, and very puny, is kept day 
after day in a foul air-shaft, with nothing but an old ragged quilt 
to lie upon, and a little shirt to cover his nakedness. The floor was 
uneven, and always wet, yet day after day the little life was left, 
for no reason at all except cruelty, to pine away in this awful place. 

is New York World, July 10, 1899. 



124 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

Crime appears to be discovering all kinds of ingenious methods. 
Poisoned candy or cake is sent through the mails to persons whom 
it is desired to destroy. The victims of this class of wickedness are 
becoming more and more frequent. 

Moreover, crime is getting to be as common in high life as it is 
among the middle and lower classes, to say nothing of the criminal 
classes. An eastern millionaire secures a divorce from his wife, and 
four and a half hours afterward she is wedded to another million- 
aire. So blunted have morals in general become that the affair 
excites but little disgust anywhere. Two wealthy men have differ- 
ences of opinion over business matters. One invites the other to a 
friendly conference. They meet, and the one who has been invited 
is shot without warning. The murderer gives himself up with the 
utmost complacency to the authorities, and hands them two sets of 
typewritten statements, setting forth in legal form his reason for the 
deed. One of these statements is four thousand five hundred words 
in length, and the other ten thousand. In these he had previous to 
the commission of the crime set forth in the coolest manner possible 
his object in killing his fellow millionaire. 

These are only a few specific instances of crime, representing a 
few of the different classes. After all, with how thin a veneer has 
that which we call civilization covered the natural brute ferocity of 
our natures. True, we have steam engines, elegant railroad cars, 
and fast service; we have high buildings equipped with all the latest 
modern improvements ; we have telephones, and the telegraph ; but, 
after all, how much more civilized and Christianized are our natures 
above those of the poor ignorants of other climes ! This is a ques- 
tion worth considering. The theory of our government is perfect ; 
but how well do we live up to it? Fraud and deceit in high places 
of public trust are frequent ; election scandals fill the very atmosphere 
whenever the franchise is exercised. Aldermen accept boodle; and 
the lowest dens of vice are allowed to run "wide-open" under the 
eye of the authorities. Our lives are spent in all kinds of pleasure, 
with but little thought or care for the sorrows and trials of the 
poor. 

All these things lead one seriously to ask, In what position are 
we as a nation to bring benefit to those in benighted lands? In April 
of this year, 1899, it was authoritatively reported that since the 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 125 

arrival of the Americans in Manila there had been over three hun- 
dred saloons opened in that city. Again, a statement is issued from 
the office of the surgeon-general in Washington that twenty-one 
per cent of the soldiers of the American army in the islands are 
afflicted with loathsome diseases. 

That the poor souls in the Philippine Islands are in need of the 
gospel of Jesus Christ no one will deny ; but that gospel must be 
carried to them by men endued with the power of the Holy Ghost, 
and armed with the weapons of faith and prayer, and not by any 
such means as are now being used. 

I will not dwell upon this phase of the question longer, however, 
for it is only one of many. Suffice it to say that in view of the 
condition of our own spiritual experience and morals, one is hardly 
warranted in believing that the opportunity to become the owners 
of the heathen Filipinos by purchase from Spain, and the liberal 
use of American muskets and machine guns, constitutes a ' ' divine 
call " in order that we may impart to these poor souls virtues so 
faintly visible in ourselves. 

The next problem which demands solution is that of the large 
army and navy which will be continually required for the retention 
of the group. Militarism and democracy are incompatible. A 
large standing armed force is the natural adjunct of a monarchy. 
"The monarch represents an authority springing not from the 
periodically expressed consent of the people, and relying for the 
maintenance of that authority, if occasion requires, upon the em- 
ployment of force, even against the popular will. An army is an 
organization of men subject to the command of a superior will, the 
origin or the purpose of which it is assumed to have no right to 
question. The standing army is in this sense, therefore, according 
to its nature and spirit, an essentially monarchical institution." 13 

It is clear from this that in a republic there is no rightful place 
for a large standing force. Such a thing is contrary to the very 
basic principles upon which republics are founded, besides being a 
constant menace to the free expression of the popular will and 
thought, and a dangerous source of arbitrary power in the hands of 
the men who for the time being form the government. 

13 Address by Hon. Oarl Schurz before the American Academy of Political 
Science, April 7. 8, 1899. 



126 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Military virtues are in many instances the opposite of civic 
virtues; and in more cases than one the attributes and qualities 
necessary to constitute a good military man are the very ones 
which constitute a bad civilian. Military modes of thinking and 
methods of action unfit men for the duties incumbent upon the 
citizens of a free republic. The rise of a large, permanent armed 
force in a republic always portends the downfall and ruin of free 
government. 

In Europe the armiea of the great powers are a necessity, or at 
least they are a necessity under the present conditions. Europe 
is simply a conglomeration of armed camps, in which the hostile 
nations sit watching each other, and preparing for the conflict which 
their mutually rival interests are bound sooner or later to bring. 
But with us an army for defense is wholly unnecessary. Locked 
in the embraces of two broad oceans we have naught to fear from a 
foreign invader. Lincoln once said that ' ' all the armies of Europe, 
Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasures of the earth (our 
own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a com- 
mander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make 
a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years." These 
words are undoubtedly true. It therefore follows that with us a 
large standing army can only be of use for preying upon helpless 
peoples near us; that is, for the purpose of buccaneering. It is 
now being seriously urged that the standing army of the United 
States be increased to 100,000 fighting men; that is, about four 
times its size at the beginning of 1898. To train and keep stand- 
ing such a force is simply to train men to become good subjects of 
a monarchy, and inefficient citizens of the republic. The two 
things can not possibly survive together. It is now for this nation 
to choose whether it will stick to the old paths, and discard large 
standing armies in times of peace, or whether it will unnecessarily 
adopt what the Old World monarchies would fain throw off, but 
which they find to be an evil necessary to their very existence. 
Should she choose in this matter as in others to return, like the prodi- 
gal son, to the ways of the Old World, her manifest destiny will be 
fixed. She will degenerate into a monarchy herself in truth, if 
not in name. And it may yet be with her as it was with Rome of 
old, concerning which Gibbon said : ' ' The image of a free constitu- 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 127 

tion was preserved with decent reverence: the Roman senate 
appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the 
emperors all the executive powers of government." And these 
emperors were backed by enormous military establishments. 

It is urged that war makes men brave and patriotic. On this 
point I must again quote words of wisdom from an author already 
cited : — 

< ' Let me now pass to the institutional aspect of the case as far 
as it concerns this republic in particular. I am far from predicting 
that the organization and maintenance and use of large armaments 
will speedily bring forth in this country the same consequences which 
they did produce in England in Cromwell's time, and in France at 
the periods of the first and second French republics. With us the 
1 man on horseback ' is not in sight. There is no danger of monar- 
chical usurpation by a victorious general, although it is well worthy of 
remembrance that even here in the United States of America, at the 
close of the Revolutionary war, at the very threshold of our history 
as a republic, a large part of the Revolutionary army, ' turned by 
six years of war from militia into seasoned veterans, ' and full of 
that overbearing esprit cle corps characteristic of standing armies, 
urged George Washington to make himself a dictator, a monarch ; 
that, as one of his biographers expresses it, ' it was as easy for 
Washington to have grasped supreme power then, as it would have 
been for Caesar to have taken the crown from Anthony upon the 
Lupercal;' and that it was only George Washington's patriotic loy- 
alty and magnificent manhood that stamped out the plot. However, 
usurpation of so gross a character would now be rendered infinitely 
more difficult, not only by the republican spirit and habits of the 
people, but also by our federative organization, dividing so large an 
expanse of country into a multitude of self-governing States. 

' ' But even in such a country and among such a people it is pos- 
sible to demoralize the constitutional system, and to infuse a danger- 
ous element of arbitrary power into the government without making 
it a monarchy in form and name. One of the most necessary con- 
servative agencies in a democratic republic is general respect for 
constitutional principles, and faithful observance of constitutional 
forms; and nothing is more apt to undermine that respect and to 
foster disregard of those forms than warlike excitements, which at 



128 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

the same time give to the armed forces an importance and a prestige 
which they otherwise would not possess. 

"No candid observer of current events will deny that even 
to-day the spirit of the new policy awakened by the victories and 
conquests achieved in the Spanish war, and by the occurrences in the 
Philippines, has moved even otherwise sober-minded persons to speak 
of the constitutional limitations of governmental power with a levity 
which a year ago would have provoked serious alarm and stern re- 
buke. We are loudly told by the advocates of the new policy that 
the Constitution no longer fits our present conditions and aspirations 
as a great and active world-power, and should not be permitted to 
stand in our way. Those who say so forget that it is still our 
Constitution; that while it exists, its provisions as interpreted by our 
highest judicial tribunal are binding upon our actions as well as upon 
our consciences; that they will be binding, and must be observed 
until they are changed in the manner prescribed by the Constitution 
itself for its amendment; and that if any power not granted by the 
Constitution is exercised by the government or any branch of it, on 
the ground that the Constitution ought to be changed in order to fit 
new conditions, or on any other grounds, usurpation in the line of 
arbitrary government is already an accomplished fact. And if such 
usurpation be submitted to by the people, that acquiescence will 
become an incentive to further usurpation which may end in the com- 
plete wreck of constitutional government. 

' < Such usurpations are most apt to be acquiesced in when, in 
time of war, they appeal to popular feeling in the name of military 
necessity, or of the .honor of the flag, or of national glory. In a 
democracy acting through universal suffrage, and being the govern- 
ment of public opinion informed and inspired by discussion, every 
influence is unhealthy that prevents men from calm reasoning. And 
nothing is more calculated to do that than martial excitements which 
stir the blood. We are told that war will lift up people to a higher 
and nobler patriotic devotion, inspire them with a spirit of heroic 
self-sacrifice, and bring their finest impulses and qualities into action, 
This it will, in a large measure, if the people feel that the war is a 
necessary or a just one. But even then its effects upon the political 
as well as the moral sense are confusing. When the fortunes of 
war are unfavorable, almost everything that can restore them will be 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 129 

called legitimate, whether it be in harmony with sound principles or 
not. When the fortunes of war are favorable, the glory of victory 
goes far to justify, or at least to excuse, whatever may have been 
done to achieve that victory, or whatever may be done to secure or 
increase its fruits. 

"History shows that military glory is the most unwholesome 
food that democracies can feed upon. War withdraws, more than 
anything else, the popular attention from those problems and inter- 
ests which are, in the long run, of the greatest consequence. It pro- 
duces a strange moral and political color-blindness. It creates false 
ideals of patriotism and civic virtue. 

' ' Nobody is inclined to underestimate the value of military 
valor; but compared with military valor we are apt to underestimate 
the value of other kinds of valor which are equally great, and no less, 
sometimes even more, useful to the community. I do not refer only 
to such heroism as that of the fireman, or the member of the life- 
saving service on the coast, who rescues human beings from the 
flames or from the watery grave at the most desperate risk of his 
own life, and whose deeds are all the more heroic as they are not 
inspired by the enthusiasm of battle, and pale into insignificance 
by the side of any act of bravery done in killing enemies in the field ; 
I speak also of that moral courage more important in a democracy, 
which defies the popular outcry in maintaining what it believes right, 
and in opposing what it thinks wrong. 

" Blood spilled for it on the battle-field is often taken to sanctify 
and to entitle to popular support, however questionable. It is called 
treason to denounce such a cause, be it ever so bad. It is called 
patriotism to support it however strongly conscience may revolt 
against it. Take for instance the man who honestly believes our 
war against the Filipinos to be unjust. If that man, faithfully obey- 
ing the voice of his conscience, frankly denounces that war, and 
thereby risks the public station he may occupy, or the friendship 
of his neighbors, and resolutely meets the clamor vilifying him as 
a craven recreant and an enemy to the republic, he is, morally, 
surely no less a hero than the soldier who at the word of command 
and in the excitement of battle rushes against a hostile battery. 
You can no doubt find in our country an abundance of men who 
would stand bravely under a hail-storm of bullets. But many of 



130 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

them, if their consciences condemned the Filipino war ever so 
severely, would be loath to face the charge of want of patriotism 
assailing everybody who opposes it. This is no new story. War 
makes military heroes, but it makes also civic cowards. No wonder 
that war has always proved so dangerous to the vitality of democra- 
cies; for a democracy needs to keep alive, above all things, the 
civic virtues which war so easily demoralizes. 

' ' You will have observed that I have treated the matter of mili- 
tarism in the United States in intimate connection with our warlike 
enterprises, as if they were substantially the same thing. I have 
done so purposely. As I endeavored to set forth, the development 
of militarism in European states can be explained on the theory that 
each power may think the largest possible armaments necessary for 
the protection of its safety among its neighbors, and for the preserva- 
tion of peace. With us such a motive can not exist. Not needing 
large armaments for our safety, — for this Republic, if it maintained 
its old traditional policy, would be perfectly safe without them, — 
we can need them only in the service of warlike adventure under- 
taken at our own pleasure for whatever purpose. And here I may 
remark, by the way, that in my opinion, although such a course of 
warlike adventure may have begun with a desire to liberate and 
civilize certain foreign populations, it will be likely to develop itself, 
unless soon checked, into a downright and reckless policy of con- 
quest with all the ' criminal aggression ' and savagery such a policy 
implies. At any rate, that policy of warlike adventure and milita- 
rism, will, with us, go together as essentially identical. Without the 
policy of warlike adventure, large Standing armaments would, with 
us, have no excuse, and would not be tolerated. If we continue 
that policy, militarism with its characteristic evils will be inevitable. 
If we wish to escape those evils and to protect this democracy 
against their dangerous effects, the policy of warlike adventure must 
be given up, for the two things are inseparable." u 

Thus it is that the matter of American imperialism and expan- 
sion is inseparably linked with the question of large standing armies. 
They are Siamese twins, both alike being pregnant with a ' < manifest 
destiny" for this Republic; namely, the ruin of free government. 

Again, the size of our armies and our navies, if the imperialistic 
nSchurz, address on "Militarism uud Democracy." 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 131 

policy is persisted in, can not be regulated by our own wishes. Our 
program in this respect must be arranged to suit and to fit the pro- 
grams of the other "world-powers." This is strikingly illustrated 
by a speech recently made in the British House of Commons by 
Mr. Goshen, the first lord of the admiralty, "when he asked the 
House of Commons to appropriate the enormous sum of $132,770,- 
000 for the British navy, saying that so startling an estimate had 
not originally been contemplated, but that it had been framed after 
a careful study of the programs of the other powers ; that the United 
States, Russia, France, Japan, Italy, and Germany had under con- 
struction 685,000 tons of warships, and that England was compelled 
to shape her action accordingly. He prayed that, if the czar's hope 
for disarmament were not realized, those who proposed to attack 
the country's expenditures would not attempt to dissuade the people 
from bearing the taxation necessary to carry on the duties of the 
empire." 20 

Our lot in this respect will now be the same as that of Great 
Britain, and this again is another link in the cable of manifest 
destiny. 

For violating eternal principles of right and justice, Spain was 
called to a strict account. This nation was the instrument in the 
hand of God to mete out her punishment. There have been similar 
instances at other times in the history of the world. Once the Lord 
called the Assyrians to punish the people of Israel, and concerning 
them it is said in the Scriptures : — 

" O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand 
is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, 
and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take 
the spoil, and to take the prej r , and to tread them down like the 
mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his 
heart think so ; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations 
not a few. For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? Is 
not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria 
as Damascus? As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, 
and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Sam- 
aria; shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do 
to Jerusalem and her idols? Wherefore it shall come to pass, that 

so ibid. 



132 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mt. Zion and 
on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of 
Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he saith, By the strength 
of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: 
and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their 
treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: 
and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as 
one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and 
there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. 
Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall 
the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod 
should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff 
should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. Therefore shall the 
Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and 
under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 
And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a 
flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briars in one 
day; and shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful 
field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard- 
bearer fainteth. And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be 
"few, that a child may write them." 15 

Assyria, in the course of a war to which she was called by the 
Lord for the purpose of punishing a wicked nation, grew proud, 
and became filled with ideas of her own greatness ; and in the hour 
of her triumph she laid the foundations for her ruin. 

Pensive, beautiful, and filled with veriest truth are the stanzas 
of Owen Wister, in his magnificent poem, "My Country — 1899," 
just written. The verses are descriptive of the condition of the 
country at the present time, and are in the form of a dialogue 
between Uncle Sam and Columbia. Columbia has been chiding 
Uncle Sam concerning the corruption of voters and the spoils sys- 
tem, and the forty-second stanza opens with his answer: — 

" Drowsing ! " he answered. " Why, I 've waked the world ' 
The scornful powers, the sovereign close-throned few, 
The sceptered circle, whose dull lips once curled 
Because they were so old, and I so new, 
To-day count me, and what I say, and do; 



is Isa. 10 : 5-19. 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 133 

I sit among them, chaired in equal state ; 

They have obeyed my knock, and opened me their gate. 

" Drowsing ! 'tis you that walk in blindfold sleep, 

With sight but imaged in a senseless eye; 
'T is you that should awake, so you may keep 

Pace with my ocean-spreading destiny. 

My banners " " Hold ! " she cried. " I know the cry . 

' War of humanity ; ' ' In Freedom's name ; ' 

A spangled cloak of words to screen their game and shame. 

" Hark to the babel and cajoling din 

Paid orators and bedlam prophets raise, 
While corporate greed conspires to make you sin 

Against your birthright and your ancient ways. 

' War of humanity ! ' mouth-feeding phrase ! 
1 Beneficent assimilation ' — how 
Drivels the jargon that hypocrisy speaks now? 

" These puffed wind-swollen sounds your land have flung 

To such commotion, shaken so her poise, 
That every jackanapes who wags a tongue 

And thumps a fist must lead into the noise, 

While Polly, rabid to make heard her voice, 
Mounts the high pulpit and outscreams the mass, 
Profane 'mid tinkling cymbals and 'mid sounding brass. 

•' ' God's instrument,' they style you, bid you be, 
And ' Carry Christ to heathens.' Will you dare 
Search your own mansion and your hearth, and see 
How much of Christ this day have you to spare? 
Your fraud-bespattered ballot— reigns He there? 
Your pension bureau — does that crime reveal 
Acknowledgment of Him who said : ' Thou shalt not steal '? 

"What shall you tell the heathen of those thieves 

That sway Manhattan, and decree her laws, 
And spin the meshes that corruption weaves 

Around each right and honorable cause? 

And Pennsylvania's unjailed bird that draws 
His fetid vultures round her heart, that rules 
A government of knaves at the expense of fools ? 

" What shall you tell of Carolina's stain? 

Of blood-spilt polls, and smoking butchery? 
Of dastard brag about her victims slain? 
If they were savages, what thing is she? 
Georgia's outlawed tribunals view, and see 



134 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Men roasted at the stake. Then, if you will, 

Go teach the heathen how God said: Thou shalt not kill. 

'•Ah, through the shaking tinsel of the day 
How easy for Truth's golden gaze to shine! 

Truth 's in your heart ; then let her lend a ray 
To your bedazzled eyes, ere you resign 
Your birthright, ere your separate path entwine 

With alien tangles. What concern have you 

To sit with sceptered powers, the sovereign close-throned few? 

"O Benjamin of nations! has your coat 

Not enough colors 16 that ye must inweave 
New skeins of savag'ry, unknown, remote, 
New wards in motley guardianship receive? 
Was it for this you bade the Old World leave 
You to yourself, and set the vacant seas 
Between your youth and her age-worn iniquities? 

"O Benjamin of nations, best beloved! 

Still let your isolated beacon show 
Its steadfast splendors from their rock unmoved, 

Mixed with no lanterns that flare, fall, and go. 

Still may your fortunate twin oceans flow 
To island you from neighbors' broils aloof : 
Teach liberty to live! be your life still the proof! 

" So long in heaven I waited for your birth, 
Such joy filled me when I became your soul, 

So close I have companioned you on earth, 
Walked with each step you 've trodden toward our goal, 
O stray not now aside and mar the whole 

Bright path ! " She stopped ; she laid her hand on him ; 

He, looking up, beheld how her clear eyes were dim. 

True principles are the strength of nations as well as of men. 
But almost every principle ever held and prized as sacred in this 
nation has been prostituted to base perfidy and passion for foreign 
possession. Those priceless principles, the goodly heritage which 
the Fathers bequeathed us, have been bartered for a mess of Philip- 
pine pottage. Well would it be for every nation if its legislators 



10 The poet's reference to the Scripture incident slightly limps; it was Joseph, 
not Benjamin, whose coat had many colors. 



MANIFEST DESTINY. 135 

would constantly keep before them the sentiment in Rudyard Kip- 
ling's great " Recessional Ode," for it is only by the cherishing of 
such lofty and noble truths that states can derive a substantial 
prosperity, and statesmen an immortal renown : — 

" The tumult and the shouting dies, 

The captains and the kings depart; 
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice, 

An humble and a contrite heart. 
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 
Lest we forget — lest we forget! 

" Far-called our navies melt away, 

On dune and headline sinks the fire — 

Lo, all our pomp of yesterday 
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! 

Judge of the nations, spare us yet, 

Lest we forget — lest we forget! 

11 If, drunk with sight of power, we loose 
Wild tongues that have not thee in awe, 

Such boasting as the Gentiles use 
Or lesser breeds without the law — 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 

Lest we forget — lest we forget! 

" For heathen heart that puts her trust 
In reeking tube and iron shard — 
All valiant dust that builds on dust, 

And guarding, calls not thee to guard — 
For frantic boast and foolish word, 
Thy mercy on thy people, Lord! 

Amen." 

One by one the silent artillery of time sweeps us from the 
scenes of life's strife. Short is the span of vital breath; quick 
comes the hour when our feeble forms are laid to molder in the 
dust. Soon we are forgotten. But the deeds which we have done 
are undying; they live on through all time as monuments of our 
greatness or our folly. The verdict of history is seldom unjust, and 
at its bar, as the cycles of the century speed on, we are all arraigned 
for trial. It was the task of our political forefathers, and nobly 
they performed it, ' ' to possess themselves, and through themselves 
us, of this goodly land, and to up- rear upon its hills and its valleys 



13G THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

a political 'edifice of liberty and equal rights;' 'tis ours only to 
transmit these — the former unprof aned by the foot of an invader, 
the latter undecayed by the lapse of time and untorn by usurpation — 
to the latest generation that fate shall permit the world to know. 
This task, gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to pos- 
terity, and love for our species in general, all imperatively require 
us faithfully to perform. 

' ' How then shall we perform it ? At what point shall we expect 
the approach of danger ? By what means shall we fortify against 
it ? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the 
ocean, and crush us at a blow ? — Never ! All the armies of Europe, 
Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our 
own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a com- 
mander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a 
track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. 

' 'At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected ? 
I answer, If it ever reach us, it must spring up among us; it can 
not come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves 
be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live 
through all time, or die by suicide." 

These were the words of the immortal Lincoln. Now the crisis 
has been reached; the hour of temptation is here. Will it be a 
stepping-stone, or will it be a stumbling-block ? Present proceed- 
ings indicate the latter. The burning question blazes up before us 
now: As a nation of freemen shall we live through all time, or shall 
we die by suicide ? The heavenly seraph holds the scale in which 
the state is swinging. We are a spectacle not only unto the world, 
and to angels, and to men, but the ever-watchful eye of the Most 
High, who ruleth in the kingdom of men, is riveted upon the trem- 
bling indicator, nervously made to quiver on its course as events 
of weal or woe affect it. Which way the tide of our destiny shall 
set is now for us to decide. Once more let it be said that this is 
wholly a matter of choice, and not in any way a question of chance. 
The manifest destiny of the nation waits upon the actions of men, 
while expectancy sits on the brow of the universe. 



CHAPTER IX. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 

Among the great nations of ancient times the republic of Rome 
is at once the most gigantic and striking figure. In the history of 
mankind only two republics have ever risen to a pitch of grandeur 
and prominence sufficient to entitle them to a rank in the galaxy of 
"great world-powers." Of these the republic of the Romans is 
one, and that of the United States of America is the other. 

Aside from the Anglo-Saxon race, no people have ever possessed 
the faculty of self-government to such an extent as the Roman 
nation. Theirs was a commonwealth, which, as Cicero, one of 
their own greatest orators, said, ought to be immortal, and forever 
renew its youth. His words contain a truth, but sad to state, a 
truth unrealized beneath the sun. Republican forms of government 
have proved even less enduring than the other systems which have 
been devised for the ruling of mankind. This constitutes no criti- 
cism of the principle on which republics are based. Popular 
government is an experiment upon the heart of man ; a higher, that 
is, a more self-sacrificing, grade of citizenship is required from the 
individual in order that the higher form of national life may sur- 
vive and prosper. It is possible for a monarchy to continue to 
exist, even although great crimes are committed in the name of the 
state; even though justice and the rights of men and peoples are 
mired beneath the mailed heel of arbitrary authority. In the doing 
of these things a monarchy violates no natural law of its being or 
its life. It is not so with a republic. This is founded upon right, 
not power; this is laid in righteousness, not iniquity. When once 
power is substituted for right, and iniquity for righteousness, the 
republic, in the nature of things, is transformed by these very acts 
into a despotic grade of government. It may continue to wear the 
insignia and badge of freedom, but the life, the sacred fire, has 
flickered and gone out in darkness. The image may remain, but 
'tis only a death mask; the vital breath has fled. If republics 
endure, their citizens must not only know the right, but they must 
10 [137] 



138 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

do the right. This the people of the Roman republic, in early days, 
knew and appreciated. Hence, they worshiped the virtues. 
They built temples, and offered sacrifices ( ' to the highest human 
excellences, to 'Valor,' to 'Truth,' to 'Good Faith,' to 'Modesty,' 
to ' Charity,' to ' Concord.' ' Hence it was that they said to every 
man: "You do not live for yourself. If you live for yourself, you 
shall come to not'hing. Be brave, be just, be pure, be true in word 
and deed; care not for your enjoyment, care not for your life; care 
only for what is right. So, and not otherwise, it shall be well with 
you. So the Maker of you has ordered, whom you will disobey at 
your peril." J These words give at least a strong intimation of how 
even the people of that " elder day " regarded popular government 
as being an experiment on the heart. When once the heart is un- 
chained and personal or national ambition is allowed to have full 
sway, then freedom's rule is at an end. ' ' Arbitrary power is most 
easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness." 2 

From being a republic, Rome was converted into a military 
empire. The cause of this conversion is of remarkable interest to 
the people of the United States. This cause is well understood by 
all students of history, and has been stated in a few masterly sen- 
tences by James Anthony Froude: — 

' ' In virtue of their temporal freedom the Romans became the 
most powerful nation in the known world ; and their liberties per- 
ished only when Rome became the mistress of conquered races, to 
whom she was unable or unwilling to extend her privileges. ... If 
there is one lesson which history clearly teaches, it is this, that free 
nations can not govern subject provinces. If they are unable or 
unwilling to admit their dependencies to share their own constitu- 
tion, the constitution itself will fall in pieces from mere incompe- 
tence for its duties." 

Rome became imperial because she was unable or unwilling to 
extend the privileges of her constitution to the nations which she 
conquered. This was the cause of her imperialism. The result to 
the Roman people themselves was that "their own liberties per- 
ished." In refusing the privileges of her constitution to the peo- 
ples whom she had conquered, Rome denied a fundamental law of 



i Froude, " Caesar; a Sketch." 

2 Washington, letter of congratulation and advice. 



IN THE TRAIL OP ROME. 139 

her own governmental being, and nothing else could logically fol- 
low but ruin of her government, of her constitution; that is, the 
ruin of the republic of Rome. 

To-day the republic of the United States is coursing over the 
same track to the same goal. But when the tape at the end of the 
track is reached, the dead line of republican life will have been 
passed. The nation is riding for a fall just as certajnly as did 
ancient Rome, that other great republic of the West. The one 
lesson which history teaches, "that free nations can not govern 
subject provinces," is now being ignored and scoffed at, as if it 
were the veriest fairy-tale, totally unworthy of contemplation by 
reflective and intelligent minds. It is now being seriously urged 
that this nation is not "unwilling," but only "unable," to extend 
her privileges to the "conquered races." This inability is said to 
be caused, not by any inherent weakness or lack upon the part of 
the conqueror; but because of the conditions and circumstances of 
the conquered. Precisely the same thing was argued in the Roman 
times ; but such arguments availed nothing to prevent loss of lib- 
erty to the people of Rome themselves, and ruin to her constitution. 
Rome violated a natural law of her being, and all violations of nat- 
ural law, governmental as well as physical, bring, by nature, pun- 
ishment upon the transgressor. In the Declaration of Independ- 
ence this nation declared that she ' ' assumed among the powers of 
the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature 
and of nature's God entitled her." The very foundation stones of 
this nation then are laid in natural law. That natural law is < ' that 
all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from 
the consent of the governed." The United States is now engaged in 
a war, the avowed purpose of which is to deprive a poor people of 
" liberty," their " unalienable right." But the natural law by means 
of which this nation came into existence and being declares that ' ' to 
secure this right," — liberty, — " governments are instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." 
But now, the government of the United States is being « ' instituted 
among men," — the Filipinos, — not to "secure" to them, but to 



140 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

" deprive " them of their "rights." If this is not the violation of 
a natural law of our own national being, then there never has been 
such a thing in the history of the world. 

' ' Goethe compares life to a game at whist, where the cards are 
dealt out by destiny, and the rules of the game are fixed; subject to 
these conditions, the players are left to win or lose, according to 
their skill or want of skill. The life of a nation, like the life of a 
man, may be prolonged in honor into the fulness of its time, or it 
may perish prematurely, for want of guidance, by violence or inter- 
nal disorders. And thus the history of national revolutions is to 
statesmanship what the pathology of disease is to the art of medi- 
cine. The physician can not arrest the coming on of age. Where 
disease has laid hold upon the constitution, he can not expel it; but 
he may check the progress of the evil if he can recognize the symp- 
toms in time. He can save life at the cost of an unsound limb. 
He can tell us how to preserve our health when we have it; he 
can warn us of the conditions under which particular disorders will 
have us at disadvantge. And so with nations: amid the endless 
variety of circumstances there are constant phenomena which give 
notice of approaching danger; there are courses of action which 
have uniformly produced the same results ; and the wise politicians 
are those who have learned from experience the real tendencies of 
things, unmisled by superficial differences, who can shun the rocks 
where others have been wrecked, or from foresight of what is com- 
ing can be cool when the peril is upon them. ' 

In so many wa} r s the times when Rome fell from her lofty estate 
as a republic and degenerated into a military empire are akin to our 
own. No historian has discerned this so clearly as Froude, and his 
delineation of that drama is powerful beyond description. He 
says : — 

' ' With such vividness, with such transparent clearness, the age 
stands before us of Cuto and Pompey, of Cicero and Julius Cresar; 
the more distinctly because it was an age in so many ways the coun- 
terpart of our own, the blossoming period of the old civilization, 
when the intellect was trained to the highest point which it could 
reach; and on the great subjects of human interest, on morals and 
politics, on poetry and art, even on religion itself, and the specula- 

s Froude, Ibid. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 141 

tive problems of life, men thought as we think, doubted where we 
doubt, argued as we argue, aspired and struggled after the same 
objects. It was an age of material progress and material civiliza- 
tion; an age of civil liberty and intellectual culture; an age of 
pamphlets and epigrams, of salons and dinner parties, of senatorial 
majorities and electoral corruption. The highest offices of state were 
open in theory to the meanest citizen; they were confined, in fact, 
to those who had the longest purses, or the most ready use of the 
tongue on popular platforms. Distinctions of birth had been 
exchanged for distinctions of wealth. The struggles between ple- 
beians and patricians for equality of privilege were over, and a new 
division had been formed between the party of property and the 
party who desired a change in the structure of society. The free 
cultivators were disappearing from the soil. Italy was beiug ab- 
sorbed into vast estates and held by a few favored families, and 
cultivated by slaves, while the old agricultural population was 
driven off the land, and was crowded into towns. The rich were 
extravagant, for life had ceased to have practical interests except 
for its material pleasures; the occupation of the higher classes was 
to obtain money without labor, and to spend it in idle enjoj'ment. 
Patriotism survived on the lips, but patriotism meant the ascend- 
ency of the party which would maintain the existing order of things, 
or would overthrow for a more equal distribution of the good things 
which alone were valued. Religion, once the foundation of the 
laws and rule of personal conduct, had subsided into opinion. The 
educated, in their hearts, disbelieved it. Temples were still built 
with increasing splendor; the established forms were scrupulously 
observed. Public men spoke conventionally of Providence, that 
they might throw on their opponents the odium of impiety; but of 
genuine belief that life had any serious meaning, there was none 
remaining beyond the circle of the silent, patient, ignorant multi- 
tude. The whole spiritual atmosphere was saturated with cant — 
cant moral, cant political, cant religious; an affectation of high 
principle which had ceased to touch the conduct, and flowed on in 
an increasing volume of insincere and unreal speech. The truest 
thinkers were those who, like Lucretius, spoke frankly out their real 
convictions, declared that Providence was a dream, and that man 
and the world he lived in were material phenomena generated by 



142 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

natural forces out of cosmic atoms, and into atoms to be again 
dissolved. 

' • Tendencies now in operation ma}- a few generations hence land 
modern society in similar conclusions, unless other convictions 
revive meanwhile and get the mastery over them ; of which possi- 
bility no more need be said than this, that unless there be such a 
revival, in some shape or other, the forces, whatever they be, which 
control the forms in which human things adjust themselves, will 
make an end again, as they made an end before, of what are called 
free institutions. Popular forms of government are possible only 
when individual men can govern their own lives on moral principles, 
and when duty is of more importance than pleasure, and justice 
than material expedienc}'. " * 

Then it was that there came upon the Romans that extraordinary 
spirit of expansion, which led them to believe that theirs was a 
manifest destiny to rule the entire world ; and in a few short years, 
from being a snug little country, locked in the arms of twin seas, 
Rome was transformed into an imperialism, set for the despoliation 
of every conquerable nation. On this point Froude has said: — 

" Italy had fallen to them by natural and wholesome expansion; 
but from being sovereigns of Italy, they became a race of imperial 
conquerors. Suddenly and in comparatively a few years after the 
one power was gone which could resist them, they became the 
actual or virtual rulers of the entire circuit of the Mediterranean. 
The southeast of Spain, the coast of France from the Pyrenees to 
Nice, the north of Italy, Illyria and Greece, Sardinia, Sicily, and 
the Greek islands, the southern and western shores of Asia Minor, 
were Roman provinces, governed directly by Roman magistrates. 
On the African side, Mauritania (Morocco) was still free. Numidia 
(the modern Algeria) retained its native dynasty, but was a Roman 
dependency. The Carthaginian dominions, Tunis and Tripoli, had 
been annexed to the empire. The interior of Asia Minor up to the 
Euphrates, with Syria and Egypt, were under sovereigns, called 
allies, but like the native princes in India, subject to a Roman 
protectorate. Over this enormous territory, rich with the accumu- 
lated treasures of centuries, and inhabited by thriving, industrious 
races, the energetic Roman men of business had spread and settled 

* Froude, Ibid. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 143 

themselves, gathering into their hands the trade, the financial 
administration, the entire commercial control of the Mediterranean 
basin. They had been trained in thrift and economy, in abhorrence 
of debt, in strictest habits of close and careful management. 
Their frugal education, their early lessons in the value of money, 
good and excellent as these lessons were, led them, as a matter of 
course, to turn to account their extraordinary opportunities. Gov- 
ernors with their staffs, permanent officials, contractors for the 
revenue, negotiators, bill-brokers, bankers, merchants, were scat- 
tered everywhere in thousands. Money poured in upon them in 
rolling streams of gold. The largest share of the spoils fell to the 
Senate and the senatorial families. The Senate was the permanent 
council of state, and was the real administrator of the empire. The 
Senate had the control of the treasury, conducted the public policy, 
appointed from its own ranks the governors of the provinces. It 
was patrician in sentiment, but not necessarily patrician in composi- 
tion. The members of it had virtually been elected for life by the 
people, and were almost entirely those who had been quaestors, 
aediles, praetors, or consuls; and these offices had been long open to 
the plebeians. It was an aristocracy, in theory a real one, but tend- 
ing to become, as civilization went forward, an aristocracy of the rich. 
How the senatorial privileges affected the management of the prov- 
inces will be seen more and more particularly as we go on. It is 
enough at present to say that the nobles and great commoners of 
Rome rapidly found themselves in possession of revenues which 
their fathers could not have imagined in their dreams ; and money, 
in the stage of progress at which Rome had arrived, was convertible 
into power. " 5 

This is a good description of the territory of Rome's expansion, 
and what she did with it, when once it fell into her possession. The 
next question that calls for solution is, How did Rome get started in 
her "expansion policy" ? The answer is short, simple, and, with 
the sound of recently uttered phrases still ringing in our ears, per- 
haps familiar: the expansion of Rome, which also means the impe- 
rialism of Rome, began in a " war for humanity, in the cause of 
humanity, solely for humanity." This is the story. 

When the second Punic war came to an end, with such a disas- 

6 Froude, Ibid. 



144 ■ PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

trous issue for the Carthaginians, and such a favorable outcome for 
the Romans, the latter determined immediately to crush the power 
of Philip, king of Macedon. True, peace had been concluded with 
him two or three years before, ' ' yet the grounds of a new quarrel 
were soon discovered." He was accused of having attacked the 
Athenians and some of the other friends of Rome. At this time 
the southern part of Greece was divided into a number of small 
republics, all of which paid more or less tribute to Philip of Mace- 
don. Rome was a republic, a great and a strong republic, and she 
considered it her duty to assist these poor, little, weak, struggling 
republics against the tyranny of the king of Macedonia. ' ' The war 
was undertaken by the Romans chiefly, as icas pretended, on their 
[the small republics of Greece] account." 6 It was "under pre- 
text of an invitation from the Athenians to protect them from the 
king of Macedon that the ambitious republic secured a foothold in 
Greece." 7 To all appearances this was a piece of disinterestedness 
not common among nations; but it was only "to all appearances." 
' ' The barbarous tribes on the north and west of Macedonia were 
also led, by the temptation of plunder, to join the confederacy; 
and their irruptions served to distract the councils and the forces 
of Philip." 8 

The parallel or analogy between that war "solely for humanity" 
and the one through which the United States has just passed, is 
quite complete. The little republics of Southern Greece stood 
related to Philip of Macedon much the same as Cuba, Porto Rico, 
and other places stood related to Spain at the time when this nation, 
"solely in the cause of humanity," declared war in their behalf. 
And. moreover, it may not be out of the way to compare " the bar- 
barous tribes on the north and west of Macedonia," who were led to 
join the confederacy, and whose irruptions served to distract the 
councils and forces of Philip. — it may not be out of the way to 
compare these to Aguinaldo and his "barbarous" hordes of Negri- 
tos, who, by a United States consul and a commodore of the United 
States navy, were led to "join the confederacy," and whose "irrup- 
tions served to distract the councils and forces of Spain." 

> Arnold, "History of Rome." 

'Draper, " Intellectual Development of Europe," Vol. I, chap. 8, par. 14. 

s Arnold, Ibid. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 145 

At the battle of Cynocephale, in 197 b. c. , Philip was signally 
defeated, his country was exposed to invasion, ' ' and he was reduced 
to accept peace on such terms as the Romans thought proper to 
dictate." 

' ' These, as usual, tended to cripple the power of the vanquisned 
party, and at the same time to increase the reputation of the Romans, 
by appearing more favorable to their allies than to themselves. 

"Philip was obliged to give up every Greek city that he pos- 
sessed beyond the limits of Macedonia, both in Europe and in Asia; 
a stipulation which deprived him of Thessaly, Achaia, Phthiotis, 
Perrhaebia, and Magnesia, and particularly of the three important 
towns of Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias, which he used to call the 
fetters of Greece." 9 In other words, Philip of Macedon lost all his 
outlying dependencies; and this is just about what happened to Spain 
at the treaty of Paris. Both alike were stripped of by far the 
greater part of their territory outside of the home land. 

' ' All these states were declared free and independent, except 
that the Romans (pretending that Antiochus, king of Syria, threat- 
ened the safety of Greece) retained, for the present, the strong 
places of Chalcis and Demetrias in their own hands." 10 

The war had been waged by Rome at an infinite cost of blood 
and treasure to herself. Freely she had sacrificed the blood of her 
sons, and caused the tears of her daughters to be shed, in this war, 
" solely for humanity." She had marshaled her armies, and mobil- 
ized her fleets, put the former in the field, and the latter in the sea, 
solely and only for the purpose of bringing liberty to these small 
and distressed dependencies, the little sister republics, who were 
struggling for their freedom. She asked no money nor land for all 
this; her cup of joy was full to the overflowing, because she had 
done such a great act of disinterested kindness ' ' in the cause 
of humanity." In a striking proclamation she published to the 
world the liberty of these people, won by her valor at arms, and 
freely given to them: — 

' ' The senate and people of Rome, and Titus Quintius the general, 
having conquered Philip and the Macedonians, do set at liberty from 
all garrisons, imposts, and taxes, the Corinthians, the Locrians, the 

« Ibid. i»Jbid. 



146 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Phocians, the Phthiot-Achaians, the Messenians, the Thessalians, 
and the Perrhebians, declare them free ! and ordain that they shall 
be governed by their respective customs and usages. 

' ' Then followed the memorable scene at the Isthmian games, 
when it was announced to all the multitude assembled on that occa- 
sion, that the Romans bestowed entire freedom upon all those states 
of Greece which had been subject to the kings of Macedonia. The 
Greeks, unable to read the future, and having as yet had no expe- 
rience of the ambition of Rome, received this act with the warmest 
gratitude; and seemed to acknowledge the Romans in the character 
they assumed, of protectors and deliverers of Greece." u 

Following this was a war with Antiochus, king of Syria. He 
was reduced to the condition of a suppliant in b. c. 190, by the 
event of the battle of Magnesia. Philip of Macedon had helped the 
Romans in their campaigns against him. This king seems ' ' vainly 
to have hoped that by a faithful and a zealous observance of the 
treaty of peace, he might soften the remorseless ambition of the 
Romans." The iEtolians fell before the Roman arms, and then 
the Galatians, and now the way was open for Rome to continue her 
ambitious designs against Perseus, king of Macedon. At the battle 
of Pydna his army was overthrown, and his power broken. This was 
in b. c. 168. " Macedonia was then divided into four districts, each 
of which was to be under a republican government. Half of the trib- 
ute formerly paid to the king was henceforward to be paid to the 
Romans, who also appropriated to themselves the produce of all the 
gold and silver mines of the kingdom. The inhabitants were for- 
bidden to fell timber for ship-building; and all intermarriages and 
sales of land between the people of the several districts were forbid 
den. With these marks of real slavery, they were left, for the pres- 
ent, nominally free ; and Macedonia was not yet reduced to the form 
of a Roman province." 

Then, says Arnold, and his words are pregnant with deepest 
instruction for the people of the United States at the present 
time : — 

"It is curious to observe, how, after every successive conquest, 
the Romans altered their behavior to those allies who had aided 
them to gain it, and whose friendship or enmity was now become 

ii Ibid. 



IN THE TRAIL OP ROME. 147 

indifferent to them. Thus, after their first war with Philip, they 
slighted the iEtolians; after they had vanquished Antiochus, they 
readily listened to complaints against Philip; and now the destruc- 
tion of Macedon enabled them to use the language of sovereigns 
rather than of allies to their oldest and most faithful friends, 
Eumenes, the Rhodians, and the Achaians. The senate first tam- 
pered with Attalus, the brother of Eumenes, hoping that he might 
be persuaded to accuse his brother, and to petition for a share of 
his dominions ; but when they found him deaf to their temptations, 
they retracted some promises which they had made him, in the hope 
that he would listen to them. Afterward, when Eumenes himself 
landed in Italy on his way to Rome, with a view to removing the 
suspicions entertained against him, the senate, aware of his pur- 
pose, issued an order that no king should be allowed to come to 
Rome; and despatched one of the quaestors to announce it to him 
at Brundusium, aud to command him to leave Italy immediately. 
The Rhodians had offended by declaring openly ' that they were 
tired of the war with Perseus ; that he, as well as the Romans, was 
the friend of their commonwealth; that they should wish to see the 
contending parties reconciled; and that they would themselves 
declare against those whose obstinacy should be an impediment to 
peace.' This declaration, which was received at Rome most indig- 
nantly, had been privately recommended by Q. Marcius, the Roman 
consul, to one of the Rhodian ambassadors, who had visited him 
in his camp in Macedonia, during the preceding year; and Polybius 
reasonably conjectures that Marcius, confident of a speedy victory 
over Perseus, gave this advice to the Rhodians, with the treacherous 
purpose of furnishing the senate with a future pretense for hostil- 
ity against them. However, their fault was punished by the loss 
of Lycia and Caria, which the senate now declared independent; 
and the individuals who were accused of favoring Perseus were 
given up to the Romans, or at the instigation of Roman officers 
were put to death by the Rhodian government. Nor should it be 
omitted that a general inquiry was instituted throughout Greece 
into the conduct of the principal men in the several states during 
the late war. Those who were accused b} T their countrymen of the 
Roman party of having favored Perseus were summoned to Rome to 
plead their cause as criminals; and some were even put to death. 



148 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

But if the mere opinions and inclinations of individuals were thus 
punished, the states which had actually taken part with Macedon 
met with a still heavier destiny. Let it be forever remembered 
that by the decree of the senate seventy towns of Epirus were given 
up to be plundered by the Roman army, after all hostilities were at 
an end ; that falsehood and deceit were used to prevent resistance or 
escape ; and that in one day and one hour seventy towns were sacked 
and destroyed, and one hundred and fifty thousand human beings 
sold for slaves. The instrument employed on this occasion was L. 
Emilius Paulus, the conqueror of Macedon, and one of those whom 
we are taught to regard as models of Roman virtue. There is no 
reason to doubt his sincere affection for his country, his indifference 
to money, and his respectability as a citizen, husband, son, and 
father. But it is useful to see what dreadful actions the best men 
of ancient times were led unhesitatingly to commit, from the utter 
absence of a just law of nations, and the fatal habit of making 
their country the supreme object of their duty. Nor is it possible 
that these evils should be prevented, unless truer notions have 
insensibly established themselves in the minds of men, even of those 
who are least grateful to the source from which they have derived 
them; and if modern Europe be guided by purer principles, the 
Christian historian can not forget from what cause this better and 
happier condition has arisen. 

"It remains now that we speak of the conduct of the Romans 
toward the Achaians. The early history of the Achaian League, 
and the leaning of its councils toward a friendly connection with 
Macedon, has been already noticed. In the war between the 
Romans and Philip, however, the Achaians were persuaded to join 
with the former, a step which Polybius describes as absolutely 
necessary for their safety ; whether it were altogether equally honor- 
able we have hardly the means of deciding. But their new connec- 
tion, whatever may be thought of its origin, was ever afterward 
faithfully observed, insomuch that the Romans, though sufficiently 
adroit in finding matter of complaint, when they were disposed to 
do so, and though offended by the free and independent tone which 
the Achaian government always maintained toward them, could yet 
obtain no tolerable pretext for attacking them. There was, how- 
ever, a traitor among the Achaians, named Calicrates, who, jealous 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 149 

of the popularity of the ruling party in the councils of his country, 
endeavored to supplant them through the influence of Rome; and to 
ingratiate himself with the senate by representing his opponents as 
despisers of the Roman authority, which he and his friends vainly 
endeavored to uphold. After the Macedonian war, his intrigues 
were carried to a greater extent than ever. He accused a great 
number of the most eminent of his countrymen of having favored 
the cause of Perseus ; and although the conduct of the Achaian gov- 
ernment toward Rome had been perfectly blameless, and nothing 
was found among the papers of the king of Macedon which con- 
firmed the charge, even against any of its individual citizens, yet, 
on the demand of the Romans, more than a thousand of the most 
eminent men in the commonwealth were arrested and sent into 
Italy, under pretense that they should be tried for their conduct at 
Rome. On their arrival in Italy, they were confined in the different 
cities of Tuscany, and there remained nearly seventeen years. The 
senate repeatedly refused the petition of the Achaian government, 
that they might either be released or else be brought to trial. It 
is added that whoever among them were at any time detected in 
endeavoring to escape were invariably put to death. At last, after 
most of them had died in captivity, the influence of Cato, the cen- 
sor, was exerted in behalf of the survivors, at the request of Scipio 
iEmilianus, who was anxious to serve one of their number, his own 
familiar friend, the historian Polybius. Rut the manner in which 
Cato pleaded their cause deserves to be recorded. He represented 
the Achaian prisoners as unworthy of the notice of the senate of 
Rome. 'We sit here all day,' said he, 'as if we had nothing to do, 
debating about the fate of a few wretched old Greeks, whether the 
undertakers of Rome or of Achaia are to have the burying of them. ' 
We have dwelt the more fully on this treatment of the Achaians, 
because it sets in the clearest light the character of the Roman gov- 
ernment; and enables us to appreciate the state of the world under 
the Roman dominion, when such men as Polybius were subject to 
the worst oppression and insolence from a nation which boasted of 
Cato the censor as one of its greatest ornaments. 

' ' Hitherto, however, Achaia and the rest of Greece still enjoyed 
a nominal independence, notwithstanding the real supremacy of the 
Roman power. Rut within little more than twenty years from the 



150 lilt: PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

overthrow of Perseus, even these poor remains of freedom were des- 
troyed. '" 18 

Into the details of this it is not necessary to go; suffice it to say 
that the same course of treachery, duplicity, and base perfidy which 
had marked the course of Rome in other cases also marked her trail 
in this one. Achaia was one of the last allies of Rome, in whose 
behalf she had entered upon war " solely in the cause of humanity," 
but with other enemies or friends, as the case might be, disposed of, 
it was decided that her hour for destruction was now arrived. The 
Achaian league was dissolved, and Greece was henceforth treated as 
a province, was subjected to tribute, and was governed by a Roman 
proconsul, or pra&tor 

Such are the military facts connected with the story of the 
1 ' expansion " and ' ' imperialism " of Rome. Upon them, the historian 
Rollin has written some " Reflections on the conduct of the Romans 
with regard to the Graecian states/and the kings both of Europe and 
Asia." His reflections contain the wisest philosophy on these events 
that the writer has ever discovered. His words are full of instruc- 
tion concerning that time ; but they are also full of truths applica- 
ble to all times and places, and the present crisis in the United 
States, perhaps more than any other. He says : — 

1 < The reader begins to discover, in the events before related, one 
of the principal characteristics of the Romans, which will soon 
determine the fates of all the states of Greece, and produce an 
almost general change in the universe; I mean, a spirit of sover- 
eignty and dominion. This characteristic does not display itself at 
first in its full extent; it reveals itself only by degrees; and it is 
only by insensible progressions, which at the same time are rapid 
enough, that it is carried at last to its greatest height. 

1 ' It must be confessed that this people, on certain occasions, 
show such a moderation and disinterestedness as (judging them only 
from their outside) exceed everything we meet with in history, and 
to which it seems inconsistent to refuse praise. Was there ever a 
more delightful or more glorious day than that in which the Romans, 
after having carried on a long and dangerous war, after crossing 
seas, and exhausting their treasures, caused the heralds to proclaim 
in a general assembly that the Roman people restored all the cities 

12 Arnold, Ibid. 



IN THE TRAIL OP ROME. 151 

to their liberty, and desired to reap no other fruit from her victory 
than the noble pleasure of doing good to nations, the bare remem- 
brance of whose ancient glory sufficed to endear them to the 
Romans? The description of that immortal day can hardly be read 
without tears, and without being affected by a kind of enthusiasm 
of esteem and admiration. 

' ' Had this deliverance of the Graecian states proceeded merely 
from a principle of generosity, void of all interested motives; had 
the whole tenor of the conduct of the Romans never belied such 
exalted sentiments, — nothing could possibly have been more august, 
or more capable of doing honor to a nation. But, if we penetrate 
ever so little beyond this glaring outside, we soon perceive that this 
specious moderation of the Romans was entirely founded upon a pro- 
found policy; wise indeed, and prudent, according to the ordinary 
rules of government, but, at the same time, very remote from that 
noble disinterestedness, so highly extolled on the present occasion. 
It may be affirmed that the Graecians had abandoned themselves 
to a stupid joy ; fondly imagining that they were really free, because 
the Romans declared them so. 

"Greece, in the times I am now speaking of, was divided 
between two powers; I mean the Graecian republics and Macedonia; 
and they were always engaged in war, the former to preserve the 
remains of their ancient liberty, and the latter to complete their 
subjection. The Romans, being perfectly well acquainted with this 
state of Greece, were sensible that they needed not to be under any 
apprehensions from those little republics, which were grown weak 
through length of years, intestine feuds, mutual jealousies, and 
the wars they had been forced to support against foreign powers. 
But Macedonia, which was possessed of well-disciplined troops, 
inured to all the toils of war, which had continually in view the 
glory of its former monarchs; which had formerly extended its con- 
quests to the extremities of the globe ; which harbored ardent, though 
chimerical desire of attaining universal empire; and which had a 
kind of natural alliance with the kings of Egypt and Syria, sprung 
from the same origin, and united by the common interest of mon- 
archy, — Macedonia, I say, gave just alarms to Rome, which, from 
the time of the ruin of Carthage, had no obstacle left with regard 
to their ambitious designs, but those powerful kingdoms that shared 



152 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

the rest of the world between them, and especially Macedonia, as it 
lay nearer to Italy than the rest. 

"To balance, therefore, the power of Macedon, and to dis- 
possess Philip of the aid which he flattered himself he should 
receive from the Greeks, which, indeed, had they united all their 
forces with his, in order to oppose this common enemy, would per- 
haps have made him invincible with regard to the Romans; in this 
view, I say, this latter people declared loudly in favor of those 
republics, made it their glory to take them under their protection, 
and that with no other design in outward appearance than to defend 
them against their oppressors; and further to attach them by a still 
stronger tie, they hung out to them a specious bait (as a reward for 
their fidelity) ; I mean liberty, of which all the republics in question 
were inexpressibly jealous; and which the Macedonian monarchs 
had perpetually disputed with them. 

' ' The bait was artfully prepared, and swallowed very greedily 
by the generality of the Greeks, whose views penetrated no farther. 
But the most judicious and most clear sighted among them dis- 
covered the danger that lay concealed beneath this charming bait; 
and accordingly they exhorted the people from time to time, in 
their public assemblies to beware of this cloud that was gathering 
in the west, and which, changing on a sudden into a dreadful tem- 
pest, would break like thunder over their heads, to their utter 
destruction. 

' ' Nothing could be more gentle and equitable than the conduct 
of the Romans in the beginning. They acted with the utmost 
moderation toward such states and nations as addressed them for 
protection; they succored them against their enemies, took the 
utmost pains in terminating their differences, and in suppressing all 
commotions which arose among them, and did not demand the 
least recompence from their allies for all these services. By this 
means their authority gained strength daily, and prepared the 
nations for entire subjection. 

' ' And, indeed, upon pretense of offering them their good offices, 
of entering into their interests, and of reconciling them, they ren- 
dered themselves the sovereign arbiters of those whom they had 
restored to liberty, and whom they now considered, in some meas- 
ure, as their freedmen. They used to depute commissioners to 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 153 

them, to inquire into their complaints, to weigh and examine the 
reasons on both sides, and to decide their quarrels ; but when the arti- 
cles were of such a nature that there was no possibility of reconciling 
them on the spot, they invited them to send their deputies to Rome. 
Afterward, they used, with plenary authority, to summon those who 
refused to be reconciled, obliged them to plead their cause before 
the senate, and even to appear in person there. From arbiters and 
mediators being become supreme judges, they soon assumed a 
magisterial tone, looked upon their decrees as irrevocable decisions, 
were greatly offended when the most implicit obedience was not paid 
to them, and gave the name of rebellion to a second resistance; 
thus there arose, in the Roman senate, a tribunal which judged all 
nations and kings, from which there was no appeal. This tribunal, 
at the end of every war, determined the rewards and punishments 
due to all parties. They dispossessed the vanquished nations of 
part of their territories, in order to bestow them on their allies, by 
which they did two things from which they reaped a double advan- 
tage ; for they thereby engaged in the interest of Rome such kings 
as were in no way formidable to them, and from whom they had 
something to hope; and weakened others, whose friendship the 
Romans could not expect, and whose arms they had reason to dread. 

< ' We shall hear one of the chief magistrates in the republic 
of the Achaians inveigh strongly in a public assembly against this 
unjust usurpation, and ask by what title the Romans are empowered 
to assume so haughty an ascendent over them ; whether their republic 
was not as free and independent as that of Rome; by what right 
the latter pretended to force the Achaians to account for their con- 
duct; whether they would be pleased, should the Achaians, in their 
turn, officially pretend to inquire into their affairs, and whether 
matters ought not to be on the same footing on both sides? All 
these reflections were very reasonable, just, and unanswerable; and 
the Romans had no advantage in the question but force. 

"They acted in the same manner, and their politics were the 
same in regard to their treatment of kings. They first won over 
to their interest such among them as were the weakest, and conse- 
quently the least formidable; they gave them the title of allies, 
whereby their persons were rendered in some measure sacred and 
inviolable ; and it was a kind of safeguard against other kings more 
11 



154 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

powerful than themselves ; they increased their revenues, and enlarged 
their territories, to let them see what they might expect from their 
protection. It was this which raised the kingdom of Pergamus 
to so exalted a pitch of grandeur. 

' ' In the sequel the Romans invaded, upon different pretenses, 
those great potentates who divided Europe and Asia, and how 
haughtily did they treat them, even before they had conquered! 
A powerful king, confined within a narrow circle by a private man 
of Rome, was obliged to make his answer before he quitted it; how 
imperious was this! But then how did they treat vanquished kings? 
They command them to deliver up their children, and the heirs 
to their crown, as hostages and pledges of their fidelity and good 
behavior; oblige them to lay down their arms; forbid them to 
declare war, or conclude any alliance, without first obtaining their 
leave; banish them to the other side of the mountains; and leave 
them, in strictness of speech, only an empty title, and a vain show 
of royalty, divested of all its rights and advantages. 

' ' We are not to doubt but that Providence had decreed to the 
Romans the sovereignty of the world, and the Scriptures had 
prophesied their future grandeur; but they were strangers to those 
divine oracles; and besides, the bare prediction of their conquest 
was no justification of their conduct. Although it be difficult to 
affirm, and still more difficult to prove, that this people had from 
their first rise formed a plan, in order to conquer and subject all 
nations, it can not be denied but that, if we examine their whole 
conduct attentively, it will appear that they acted as if they had a 
foreknowledge of this, and that a kind of instinct determined them 
to conform to it in all things. 

' ' But be this as it will, we see by the event, to what this so 
much boasted lenity and moderation of the Romans was confined. 
Enemies to the liberty of all nations, having the utmost contempt 
for kings and monarchy, looking upon the whole universe as their 
prey, they grasped, with insatiable ambition, the conquest of the 
whole world ; they seized indiscriminately all provinces and kingdoms, 
and extended their empire over all nations; in a word, they pre- 
scribed no other limits to their vast projects, than those which des- 
erts and seas made it impossible to pass." 13 

".»Rollin, " Ancient History," book 18, sec. 7. 



IN THE TRAIL OP ROME. 155 

The expansion fever which laid such firm hold upon the people 
of the Roman republic has come upon the people of the republic 
of the United States. In both cases the game of the despolia- 
tion of nations and peoples has opened with a war " solely in 
the cause of humanity." In the former instance, the Romans 
did declare the people of the small Greek republics free and 
independent. The United States has not yet even done this much. 
The republics of Greece never became free. The ' ' war for 
humanity " never gave them their liberty. They soon found, and 
that to their bitter disappointment, that they had only exchanged 
masters, and that the little finger of Rome was thicker than the loins 
of Philip of Macedon, and that if the king had chastised them with 
whips, the republic chastised them with scorpions. They soon 
found to their intense sorrow that in the "war for humanity " there 
had been a transfer made, and that they had been the subject of 
barter. It did not take them long to discover that they had 
only acquired a slavery more abject and complete than that which 
they had endured under their previous ruler. It was as much more 
complete as Rome was more powerful than Macedon. 

Rome never withdrew her foot from the Greek states, and it is 
even now doubtful whether the United States will ever withdraw 
from Cuba. Recent public utterances indicate that a great change 
of sentiment is sweeping over the country on this point. At the 
meeting of the members of the Associated Press, held in Chicago, 
May 18, 1899, in the star speech of the evening, St. Claire McKel- 
way, editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, said: — 

"There is no newspaper which believes that we are in Porto 
Rico ever to get out. We are there to stay. There is none which 
believes that we are in Cuba to get out — soon. I think we will 
stay there about as long as Great Britain will stay in Egypt, and 
that Great Britain will stay in Egypt about as long as the Anglo- 
Saxon race has a habit of staying where it settles down. I am will- 
ing to differ from my brethren on this subject, but as my estimate 
has been only comparative, perhaps there is less room for difference 
than might superficially appear. The duration of our stay in the 
Philippines is prodigiously debated. While the debate goes on, we 
stay. If the debate coincides with our stay, I think it will be a 
protracted debate." 



156 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

Indeed, as time goes on, the prospects of this country's withdraw- 
ing from Cuba seem to be more and more remote. A silent revolu- 
tion has been taking place, a revolution more fatal to the United 
States than any that ever went on in Cuba could possibly have been 
to the Spanish throne and power. 

The things which have come to pass, and which are written out 
in this book, both those concerning Rome and the United States, 
have also been written long before in the prophecies of the Book of 
books, on the sacred leaves of the Holy Scriptures. This is not a 
chimera, but a fact, a reasonable fact, and one of deepest interest 
to all the citizens of the United States. It is fashionable nowadays 
to scoff at the idea that the Bible gives any instructions concerning 
the affairs of nations; but nevertheless a very large portion of the 
Word of God is simply a history of the nations, and a record of 
Gcd's dealings with them. Nothing can be more true or evident 
than that God keeps an account, not only with every individual, but 
also with every family, every city, and every State. 

When Abraham and his followers entered the land of Canaan, 
they were not permitted to destroy the sinful inhabitants; but, said 
Jehovah, addressing the father of the faithful, and referring to 
Israel : "In the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for 
the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." 14 And "in the fourth 
generation" they did "come hither again," and by the command of 
the Lord they slew and spared not; and wrote of Sihon: "Then 
Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. 
And the Lord our God delivered him before us ; and we smote him, 
and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that 
time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little 
ones, of every city, we left none to remain: only the cattle we took 
for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. 
From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river Arnon, and from 
the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one 
city too strong for us: the Lord our God delivered all unto us: 
only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou earnest not, nor 
unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the moun- 
tains, nor unto whatsoever the Lord our God forbade us." 15 These 
wars of the Israelites are often taken to prove the position that God 

"Gen. 15 : 16. is Deut. 3 : 32-37. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. J 57 

approves of war and acts of bloodshed. But the truth is not so. 
When Israel was commanded to destroy the people of the land into 
which she entered, it was because their cup of iniquity was full, and 
because it would be only cruelty on the part of the Creator to per- 
mit them a longer existence. Had God permitted them to live 
longer, their accumulation of sin would only have grown greater, 
and the penalty which they would have had to receive as individual 
sinners would necessarily have been more severe. They were 
utterly destitute of the Spirit of God; it had fled away forever. 
And being utterly destitute of that which alone can make us holy 
and good, there was nothing left in them for God to ally himself to, 
or which he could use as a means to bring them salvation. In 
principle they were demons ; for what are Satan and his angels but 
beings entirely destitute of the Spirit of God ? It is in mercy, 
therefore, that God brings the career of wicked individuals and evil 
nations to a close. It is not an arbitrary act, it is the kindest thing 
that a merciful God can do. 

When the angels visited Abraham under the oaks on the plains 
of Mamre, the Lord spake through them, concerning the cities of 
Sodom and Gomorrah: — 

"And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing 
which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and 
mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 
For I know him, that he will command his children and his house- 
hold after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice 
and judgment: that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which 
he hath spoken of him. And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom 
and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous ; I will 
go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to 
the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. " 19 The 
angels went on their way, and Abraham remained before the Lord, 
and pleaded with him, first that he should spare the cities if there 
could be found fifty righteous persons there; and then if there 
could be found forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, or even ten right- 
eous persons within their walls. And the Lord said, < ' I will not 
destroy it for ten's sake." Only righteous Lot and his family 
were found, and to them it was said: "Escape for thy life; look 

19 Gen. 18:17-21. 



158 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plains; escape to the 
mountain, lest thou be consumed. . . . Then the Lord rained upon 
Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of 
heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all 
the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the 
ground. " " 

In the case of these cities the limit of God's forbearance had 
been reached, the hour of their probation had closed. It was use- 
less to give their inhabitants a further opportunity for salvation; 
they had sinned away their day of grace, and were given over 
to wickedness. 

The same God who watched over the nation of the Amorites, 
and destroyed them when their cup of iniquity was full; the same 
God who kept record of the gay pleasures and grievous sins of the 
people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and who consumed them in the 
fearful flames when they had passed the unseen line, — that same 
One also kept watch over the republic of Rome, and is keeping 
watch over the republic of the United States. In the wonderful 
prophecies traced with the pencil of the Holy Ghost, the history 
of these last two is written, and was written long before either came 
into existence. It was written ' ' to the intent that the living might 
know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth 
it to whomsoever he will. " 

There are many who believe that the churches and church- 
men should have nothing to do with politics. None hold this 
view more stanchly than I do. Nevertheless, it is as true to-day 
as it was in centuries' past and gone that prophets and priests 
are sent by the Lord to warn kings and nations concerning the 
retribution which will be visited upon them by the King of kings 
and Lord of lords, if they depart from the path which a divine hand 
has mapped out for their feet. In this sense, and in this sense only, 
do I believe that the voice of the ambassadors of Jesus Christ 
should be heard in the courts and congresses of human powers, of 
earthly governments. And it is because I firmly believe that if 
the United States persists in the course she has entered upon, her 
ruin and the ruin of the world can be the only result, that I have 
penned these lines. Prophets were sent to heathen kings, as well 

H Gen. 19 : 17, 24, 25. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 159 

as to the monarchs who sat on Israel's throne. They were sent be- 
cause God loved the people, and did all that infinite love and mercy 
could do to save them from a general doom. If the nation as a 
whole heeded not, as was often the case, there were individuals 
who listened to the voice of the ambassadors of the Lord, and 
were kept from the dire troubles which God sent upon the rebel- 
lious state. My life has been devoted to the affairs of religion and 
spirituality. I have never been a member in any sense of any 
political party, and have never in my life cast a vote in city, State, 
or national elections. In saying this I would in no sense judge my 
brethren who have considered it their duty to do this; suffice it to 
say that it has been my conviction that as a citizen of the kingdom 
of heaven, and as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, I would serve 
humanity the best by holding entirely aloof from the political strifes 
which divide men into factions and parties, and devoting my strength 
to the sweetest of all ministries, that of reconciliation between 
Christ and sinners. It is only in instances like the present, when 
the things which are done are the things which are warned against 
in the Word of God, that I feel free to lift my voice and pen, 
trusting and praying that the spirit in which I write may rest upon 
and enter into those who read. With me the events which are now 
transpiring are not the working out of mere political theories, but of 
great prophetical principles. It is for this reason that I write. It is 
because I wish my position upon this matter of Christians in politics 
to be clearly understood that I have taken time and space for this 
digression. 

In the Bible, by the pen of the prophet Daniel and of the reve- 
lator John, we have in advance of its enactment the history of 
Rome and the United States, the two great republics of the West. 
Daniel spake, and said: — 

"I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of 
the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came 
up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a 
lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were 
plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon 
the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold 
another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on 
one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth 



1(30 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After 
this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the 
back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and 
dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and 
behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceed- 
ingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, 
and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse 
from all the beasts that were before it." 18 

Such is a part of the vision. Daniel was grieved and troubled, 
and he asked one of "them that stood by," "the truth of all this." 
He was told that the great beasts are « ' four kings which shall arise 
out of the earth." Not content with this answer he said: "I 
would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from 
all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and 
his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped 
the residue with his feet. . . . Thus he said, The fourth beast shall 
be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be diverse from 
all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and tread it 
down, and brake it in pieces." 19 

Now these four kingdoms are named outright in other places in 
the Bible. They were Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. 
Rome was the fourth, and was diverse from all before it, in that it 
was a republic. Now it was while it was a republic that Rome 
"devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet." 
Moreover, in Dan. 8:24, 25 it is written of this same power: "And 
his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall 
destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall 
destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy 
also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall mag- 
nify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he 
shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be 
broken without hand. And the vision of the evening and the morn- 
ing which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for 
it shall be for many days." 

Just what was this crafty, peaceful, destroying policy, and how 
his power became mighty, but not by his own power, has already 

is Dan. 7:2-7. i» Dan. 7:19, 23, R. V. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 161 

been set forth clearly from the history in this chapter. By the 
history I have shown that Rome, being a republic, a government of the 
people, made high pretensions to liberty and to the love of liberty, 
only for the sake of liberty ; that for this reason Rome pretended to love 
and desire liberty for other people ; that the little states of Greece were 
struggling against monarchies, that they might themselves be free 
and be republics. Solely from love of liberty for the sake only of lib- 
erty, and for the sake of humanity, Rome sent her armies and navies 
across seas to fight the battles, and win the causes of those other 
peoples, only to set them free from oppressive powers, to enjoy the 
blessings of liberty of which Rome was the conservator in the world. 
And then when the battles were fought, the victories won, and the 
peoples delivered, those peoples were not free. They were more 
bound, and more hopeless than ever before, because of Rome's 
greater power than that of the former oppressors. And to-day 
no man can intelligently read that history of the republic of Rome 
before any audience in the United States without that audience 
seeing the republic of the United States perfectly outlined up to date. 

Now a point particularly to be considered is that this history 
of the republic of Rome was sketched in the book of Daniel three 
hundred and forty years before it occurred; and then that sketch 
was closed up and sealed, not for three hundred and forty years, 
not till 198 b. c. and onward; but for twenty .four hundred years, 
till "the time of the end." 

Why was that sketch of the Roman republic written, and then 
closed up and sealed until a time two thousand years after that 
republic had failed as a republic and become imperial? — It was 
because at this time, ' ' the time of the end, " there would be another 
republic that would go over the same course as did that republic, — 
would apostatize from republicanism into imperialism. 

Moreover it was a state composed of this apostasy of a republic 
into imperialism, — it was such a state with which the apostate 
church of early days, the man of sin, of the Bible, united, and 
this union made the papacy, "the first beast" of the Bible, as men- 
tioned in Revelation 13. 

In the same thirteenth chapter of Revelation it is written: "And 
I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two 



L62 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." 20 Here is depicted 
the rise of the United States, coming up peacefully out of the 
earth, instead of forming amidst long years of tumults and fightings, 
as was the case with all the other powers. It is represented as hav- 
ing two horns like a lamb. A horn in prophecy signifies power, and 
the two great principles which have given power to the United States 
and made her what she is to-day are Protestantism and Republi- 
canism. But Protestantism and Republicanism are both in their 
spirit pacific ; that is, they are lamblike, hence the words, ' ' had two 
horns like a lamb." It is obvious from this that should these two 
horns of power be plucked up, as it were, should they be abandoned, 
and Roman Catholic principles in things religious, and monarchical 
ideas in things civil, take possession of this government; then, 
at once, everything that is lenient and lamblike in the government 
would at that very moment disappear, and nothing but despotism 
be in their place. In other words, it is the prevalence of these two 
principles, Protestantism and Republicanism, which alone makes 
the government lamblike in its nature. 

Now the nature of Protestantism is well set forth by D 'Aubigne, 
the historian of the Reformation. Speaking of the diet of Spires, 
where the famous Protest of the Princes was drawn up, and from 
which we get the name of Protestant, and the word Protestantism, 
he says : — 

"The principles contained in this celebrated protest of the 19th 
of April, 1592, constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now 
this protest opposed two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first 
is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second the arbitrary 
authority of the church. Instead of these abuses, Protestantism 
sets the power of conscience above the magistrate, and the authority 
of the Word of God above the visible church." 21 

This is the essence of Protestantism in very truth. There may 
be sects many and varied; but this is the underlying, fundamental, 
basic principle. True Protestantism opposes the ' ' intrusion of the 
civil magistrate " in things pertaining to the church. 

On this point George Bancroft, the great historian of the 
United States Constitution, has also said of the new nation: — 

20 Verse 11. 

«D'Aubigne, " History of the Reformation," book 13, chapter 6. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 163 

"Vindicating the right of individuality in religion, and in 
religion above all, the new nation dared to set the example of 
accepting in its relation to God the principle first divinely ordained 
of God in Judea. It left the management of temporal things to 
the temporal power; but the American Constitution, in harmony 
with the people of the several States, withheld from the federal 
government the power to invade the home of reason, the citadel of 
conscience, the sanctuary of the soul; and not from indifference, 
but that the infinite Spirit of eternal truth might move in its freedom 
and purity and power." 

And the very first amendment to the national Constitution 
reads : — 

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." 

Thus was the horn of power, the principle of Protestantism, 
established as a fundamental doctrine of the United States. 

With equal truth it may be said that the "essence" of republi- 
canism is, that " all men are created equal," and that "governments 
are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent 
of the governed." 

The principles of Protestantism are the true principles of Chris- 
tianity, — the Christianity of the Bible. The principles of Republi- 
canism are also the principles of God and the Bible in things civil. 

But it is said concerning the beast which symbolizes the United 
States in the Bible that ' ' he had two horns like a lamb, and spake 
as a dragon." Here are two things happening together, at the same 
time, and totally incompatible with one another, — that which is 
lamblike speaking as a dragon. Now a thing that is lamblike can 
not possibly speak as a dragon, and still retain its lamblike disposi- 
tion. It therefore follows that the Scriptures have portrayed that 
the United States will in name retain its lamblike principles of 
Protestantism and Republicanism, but in nature and in practise it 
will deny them. This is national hypocrisy; yea, it is national 
apostasy. There may never in these United States exist, openly, 
avowedly, and in name, a union of church and state, which consti- 
tutes in itself the abandonment of Protestantism; but the thing 
itself will be, and even now is, here. We may never have an 
emperor with a crown upon his brow; but Rome was imperial, and 



164 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

an empire for long years, while still retaining the image and name 
of a republic. 

Now the "first beast" was Rome, once a republic, but apostatized 
into an imperial monarchy, degenerated into a military despotism ; 
united with a church once Protestant in principle, but apostatized 
into the papacy. The union of these two was, I say, the "first 
beast." 

Now when in the prophecy the image of the beast is to be made, 
it is said ' ' to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make 
an image to the beast." This shows that it is a government of the 
people where the image is made. And it is said to them that they 
shall make a union of church and state. This shows that this is all 
done in a place where there is no union of church and state. That 
is true of the United States at its formation, and it is not true of 
any other nation that was ever on earth. 

These things show that the nation is first a republic, and that 
this nation is the one where these things are at last done. But 
these things can not be done in a true republic, for they are posi- 
tively antagonistic to it in principle. For these things to be done 
in a country professing to be a republic, there must be an apostasy 
from the principles of a true republic. 

Already there has been an apostasy from the principles of Prot- 
estantism, from the principle of a separation of church and state. 
The Congress of the United States, the executive, and the judiciary 
of the United States are already committed to the papal principles 
as opposed to Protestantism. This has already been done, by con- 
gressional legislation, executive action, and judicial decision. All 
three arms of the federal government have already interfered in 
behalf of a religious institution, — in behalf of Sunday and Sunday 
laws. Already here in the home of freedom men have been arrested 
and thrown into prison, and even committed to the chain-gang, in 
company with loathsome criminals, simply because they could not 
conscientiously observe the first day of the week. Into the history 
of this apostasy from Protestant principle I can not go. It is fully 
written out in other works. 22 



22 Fide "The Two Republics of Rome and the United States of America," by 
Alonzo T. Jones, and " The Rights of the People," by the same author. Review and 
Herald Pub. Co., Battle Creek, Mich. 



IN THE TRAIL OF ROME. 165 

A true republic can never unite with papal principles ; but now 
the Republic is apostatizing from republicanism and uniting with 
apostate Protestant principles, and this is in itself an ' < image to 
the beast." 

Already this nation has commenced to war against men who 
plead for republican principles in their island home ; and according 
to the prophecy it is yet to go the furthest step in this awful path, 
and kill men for desiring Protestant principles in these United 
States. For it is written of the United States : — 

' ' And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, 
that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as 
manj' as would not worship the image of the beast should be 
killed.- 23 

The union of church and state in Rome hastened and actually 
wrought the ruin of that apostate republic. So even now will this 
union hasten and cause the ruin of this so far apostate republic. 
And the sketch of the history of the former was written in the book 
of the prophet Daniel then, and closed up and sealed until 71010, so 
that they that be wise may understand what to do to escape the evil 
and the ruin that will come, and even now hastens, — a ruin that 
will come to this modern great Republic as surely as came the ruin 
of that ancient great Republic. 

This national apostasy is proceeding daily before the eyes of 
all the people; and as national apostasy progresses, national ruin 
hastens. And with this national ruin comes the ruin of the world, 
and of every nation in the world. 

23 Rev. 13:15. 



CHAPTER X. 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON? 

The people of this world are proclaiming peace, and preparing 
for war. Never has there been a state of affairs so utterly incon- 
gruous. With one voice men unite in declaring that the halcyon 
days are at hand, while at the same time they get ready for the 
biggest game of powder and projectile that has ever been proposed 
during the history of the earth. Europe presents the appearance of 
one vast battle-field, with the rival armies of every nation drawn up 
in military array, waiting for the signal which will announce that the 
time has come for the fray to commence. In Africa, from the 
Cape to Cairo, and from Sierra Leone to Zanzibar, the powers and 
potentates of the Old World have staked out their claims, and in a 
state of delirium incident to the dread fever of earth-hunger, they 
are ready at a moment's warning to fly at each others' throats, or 
to tear out each others' vitals. Around the China Sea we again 
find them all encamped, watching for and hastening on the break- 
up of the Middle Kingdom. The empire of the Celestials is the 
storm-center round which the international typhoon is whirling, 
and even now almost bursting from its own inherent power, — power 
so sensitive and dangerous that it is scarcely possible for it to keep 
from detonating like a charge of dynamite or guncotton. Into this 
awful vortex of angry nations the United States has voluntarily 
leaped, now henceforward to be reckoned as one of the sceptered 
kings of the East. 

In 1898 the world was startled by the peace and disarmament 
proclamation of the Russian czar, through which he called for all 
the nations to join him in a peace conference, the purpose of which 
should be to bring about some scheme of general disarmament on 
the part of the nations. Of that appeal this is the leading and 
most important part: — 

' ' In the course of the last twenty years the longings for a gen- 
eral appeasement have grown especially pronounced in the con- 
sciences of civilized nations. The preservation of peace has been 
[166] 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 167 

put forward as the object of international policy; it is in its name 
that great states have concluded between themselves powerful alli- 
ances ; it is the better to guarantee peace that they have developed 
in proportions hitherto unprecedented their military forces, and still 
continue to increase them without shrinking from any sacrifice. 

' ' All these efforts, nevertheless, have not yet been able to bring 
about the beneficent results of the desired pacification. The finan- 
cial charges following an upward march strike at the public pros- 
perity at its very source. 

' ' The intellectual and physical strength of the nations, labor 
and capital, are for the major part diverted from their natural appli- 
cation, and unproductively consumed. Hundreds of millions are 
devoted to acquiring terrible engines of destruction, which, though 
to-day regarded as the last word of science, are destined to-morrow 
to lose all value in consequence of some fresh discovery in the 
same field. 

' < National culture, economic progress, and the production of 
wealth are either paralyzed or checked in their development. More- 
over, in proportion as the armaments of each power increase, so do 
they less and less fulfil the object which the governments have set 
before themselves. 

1 < The economic crisis, due in great part to the system of arma- 
ments, a outrance [to the point of outrage, or to the bitter end], 
and the continued danger which lies in this massing of war material, 
are transforming the armed peace of our days into a crushing 
burden, which the people have more and more difficulty in bearing. 
It appears evident, then, that if this state of things were prolonged, 
it would inevitably lead to the very cataclysm which it is desired to 
avert, and the horrors of which make every thinking man shudder 
in advance." 

Whatever may have been the underlying reasons which caused 
the czar of all the Russias to issue this invitation to his brother 
potentates, one thing is certain, that whether his object and design 
was sinister or sincere, men stand aghast when they view the terrible 
effects which must needs be produced by modern warfare. Within 
hundreds of thousands of breasts there exists a desire for a change 
in this state of affairs so horrible to contemplate. 

Until the year 1899 the United States has stood before the 



lbS THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

world as the champion of small standing armies, and squadrons of 
war-ships sufficient only for the patrol of the coast. While clinging 
to this doctrine, the United States has become one of the greatest 
of the world-powers, without possessing a fleet worth speaking of, and 
without calling upon her few soldiers to step beyond the boundaries 
of her own continent. Small armies and navies have been made 
possible for this country on account of that magnificent clause in the 
political creed of all parties, known as the Monroe Doctrine. This 
was announced by the president of the country full seventy-five 
years ago, and the essence of it is : " "We owe it, therefore, to candor 
and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and 
those powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their 
part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as 
dangerous to our peace and safety." And immediately after this 
there was enunciated the solemn declaration : < ' With the existing 
colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not inter- 
fered, and shall not interfere." 

The Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed at a time when the ' ' allied 
powers " of Europe, whose representatives, assembled at Vienna, took 
to themselves the name of the " Holy Alliance," were attempting to 
give renewed prominence to the idea that kings govern by divine 
right. ' ' It was intended to teach the people that all the liberties 
they were entitled to possess were such only as the governing mon- 
archs deemed expedient to grant them ; that they were entitled to 
none whatsoever by virtue of the natural law; that the attempt to 
establish representative and liberal government, like that of the 
United States, was an unpardonable sin against God; and that the 
highest duty of citizenship was obedience to monarchical authority." 1 

Such were the principles of the Holy Alliance of the crowned 
heads of Europe ; its specific object was to re-establish the despot- 
ism of Spain upon her revolted colonies in South America and in 
Mexico. On the other hand, the essence of the Monroe Doctrine as 
then understood by all the world was that "while we forbid the 
establishment of despotic governments upon the American continent, 
we recognize the corresponding obligation to refrain from any attempt 
to force our political system upon any part of the Old World." 8 

i Thompson, " Footprints of the Jesuits," page 249. 
sFrom article by the Hon. Adlai F. Stevensen. 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 169 

Now we have abandoned the Monroe Doctrine, and entered into 
the arena for foreign possessions, and this, of course, naturally calls 
for a large increase of the army and the navy. If the American 
nation persists in this policy, the time is past and gone forever when 
she can look clown with condescending pity upon the nations of 
Europe groaning beneath the weight of tremendous military estab- 
lishments. It is now seriously urged that the United States requires 
an army of at least 100,000 fighting men. This would mean an 
annual cost of about $150,000,000. It must also be remembered 
that to-day the nation is carrying a pension roll of most enormous 
proportions. Last year there was paid to the pensioners of the 
Civil war the gigantic sum of $145,000,000. This is an amount 
larger than the cost per annum of the entire peace establishment 
of Germany, including her pension roll. 

However, the item of cost is but a small one compared with the 
principle involved. Had the czar's peace and disarmament confer- 
ence been called a year or so earlier, the United States could have 
gone to take a part in its deliberations, and joyfully told the mon- 
archies of the Old World the benefits to be derived from having no 
large standing armies, or huge navies. The representatives of this 
government could have told those people that peace and disarma- 
ment were the two things she had been not only advocating, but of 
which she had been a living example during all her national history. 
The United States would have then been entitled to the chief place in 
the van, and could have led all the other nations to the full fruition 
of the harvest of peace so ardently desired. But now the one nation 
which could have rightfully and with power born of a principle lived 
up to, changed the course of the other powers, has herself apos- 
tatized from these principles of peace and disarmament, and has 
now taken up a position which will necessarily entail walking in 
the labyrinth from which they are so vainly trying to extricate 
themselves. 

The Peace and Disarmament Conference has met, deliberated, 
and come to a close. Many are of the opinion that something has 
been accomplished; but in reality nothing of real worth or merit has 
been accomplished. That anything of real worth or merit should 
have been accomplished is impossible in the very nature of things. 
Many are saying that the time has come when strong nations shal; 
12 



170 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

' ' beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning- 
hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against a nation, neither 
shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under 
his own vine, and under his fig-tree." 3 

The advent of the United States in the Orient will not tend to 
amity, but rather to animosity. This was cleverly stated by Lord 
Salisbury, when at the last lord mayor's banquet, he said the 
' ' appearance of the United States as a factor in Asiatic affairs is 
likely to conduce to the interests of Great Britain, but might not 
conduce to the interests of peace." It can not possibly conduce to 
the interests of peace, for the very reason that in entering the Orient 
this nation has deserted her policy of peace, and has adopted in 
principle, at least, the bellicose spirit; she has now departed from 
that doctrine of the "father of his country," which, if it never 
brought to her military glory, most certainly has been the cause of 
her material greatness. The words in the " Farewell Address " are 
a pearl of great price. They may be familiar, but they can not too 
often be recalled : — 

"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you 
to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought 
to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that 
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican 
government. . . . 

"The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations 
is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as lit- 
tle political connection as possible. So far as we have already 
formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. 
Here let us stop. 

' ' Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none 
or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent 
controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our con- 
cerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate our- 
selves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or 
the ordinary combinations or collisions of her friendships or 
enmities. 

" Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to 
pursue a very different course. If we remain one people, under an 

s Mlcah i : 3, 4. 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON? 171 

efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy 
material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an 
attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon 
to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the 
impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard 
the giving us provocation ; when we may choose peace or war, as our 
interests, guided by justice, shall counsel. 

" Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why 
quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by interweaving 
our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and 
prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, 
humor, or caprice? 

"It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with 
any portion of the foreign world." 

But all the nations interested in the Chinese and Oriental problem 
in general are continually making and breaking alliances. This is 
absolutely necessary in the very nature of things. One nation 
may on account of its own internal policy and traditions desire to 
keep aloof from the others ; but when combinations are formed 
against it, there is no other choice but to join forces with some 
other power. England has been, more than any other nation, 
perhaps, friendly to the idea of having the United States in the 
Oriental caldron. Many think that this friendship will conduce to 
peace, but that it can not possibly do this is clearly set forth by Carl 
Schurz in his address before the convocation of the Chicago Univer- 
sity last January : — 

" If we take those new regions, we shall be well entangled in 
that contest for territorial aggrandizement which distracts other 
nations and drives them far beyond their original design. So it will 
be inevitably with us. We shall want new conquests to protect that 
which we already possess. The greed of speculators working upon 
our government will push us from one point to another, and we 
shall have new conflicts on our hands, almost without knowing how 
we got into them. It has always been so under such circumstances, 
and always will be. This means more and more soldiers, ships, 
and guns. 

' ' A singular delusion has taken hold of the minds of otherwise 
clear-headed men. It is that our new friendship with England will 



172 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

serve firmly to secure the world's peace. Nobody can hail that 
friendly feeling between the two nations more warmly than I do, 
and I fervidly hope it will last. But I am profoundly convinced 
that if this friendship results in the two countries setting out to 
grasp < for the Anglo-Saxon, ' as the phrase is, whatever of the earth 
may be obtainable — if they hunt in couple — they will surely soon 
fall out about the game, and the first serious quarrel, or at least one of 
the first, we shall have, will be with Great Britain. And as family 
feuds are the bitterest, that feud will be apt to become one of the 
most deplorable in its consequences. 

"No nation is, or ought to be, unselfish. England, in her 
friendly feeling toward us, is not inspired by mere sentimental be- 
nevolence. The anxious wish of many Englishmen that we should 
take the Philippines is not free from the consideration that, if we do 
so, we shall for a long time depend on British friendship to maintain 
our position on that field of rivalry, and that Britain will derive 
ample profit from our dependence on her. This was recently set 
forth with startling candor by the London Saturday Review, thus: — 

' ' ' Let us be frank, and say outright that we expect mutual gain 
in material interests from this rapprochement. The American com- 
missioners at Paris are making this bargain, whether they realize it 
or not, under the protecting naval strength of England, and we 
shall expect a material quid pro quo for this assistance. We expect 
the United States to deal generously with Canada in the matter of 
tariffs, and we expect to be remembered when the United States 
comes in possession of the Philippine Islands, and above all we 
expect her assistance on the day, which is quickly approaching, when 
the future of China comes up for settlement, for the young impe- 
rialist has entered upon a path where it will require a strong friend, 
and a lasting friendship between the two nations can be secured not 
by frothy sentimentality on public platforms, but by reciprocal 
advantages in solid, material interests.' 

"And the cable despatch from London bringing this utterance 
added: — 

"'The foregoing opinion is certainly outspoken enough, but 
every American moving in business circles here knows this voices 
the expectations of the average Englishman.' 

"This is plain. If Englishmen think so, we have no fault to find 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 173 

with them. But it would be extremely foolish on our part to close 
our eyes to the fact. British friendship is a good thing to have, 
but, perhaps, not so good a thing to need. If we are wise, we shall 
not put ourselves in a situation in which we shall need it. British 
statesmanship has sometimes shown great skill in making other 
nations fight its battles. This is very admirable from its point of 
view, but it is not so pleasant for the nations so used. I should be 
loath to see this republic associated with Great Britain in appar- 
ently joint concerns as junior partner with a minority interest, or 
the American navy in the situation of a mere squadron of the Brit- 
ish fleet. This would surely lead to trouble in the settling of 
accounts." 

This is a correct statement of what awaits the United States in 
the case. It therefore follows, that as far as the nativity of the 
"United States of America and Asia" is concerned, the cause of 
Armageddon, rather than that of amity, will be served. And aside 
from all matters of accident or policy there is a principle which 
will work to this end, one foretold in the Bible, and worth consider- 
ing here. 

In Matthew 24 there is a wonderful prophecy which fell from 
the lips of the Saviour himself. As he sat on the Mount of Olives 
the disciples came unto him "privately," saying, " Tell us, when 
shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and 
of the end of the world? " They came to him privately, and it was 
then that these questions were asked. There is a wonderful sig- 
nificance in these words. It is only to those who come to the Lord 
privately, alone on their knees in the secret chambers, or by them- 
selves in some quiet place, — it is only to such that there is revealed 
the sign of his coming and of the end of the world. Away from 
the hurry and the bustle of the things of life, and shut in alone 
with the Master, the "still, small voice" communicates with the 
pleading soul, anxious for knowledge concerning the greatest event 
in human and divine history. 

It was not even all of the disciples who came to the Master, and 
thus besought him in private for this precious knowledge. In the 
gospel of Mark it is written that there were only four of them, — 
Peter, James, John, and Andrew. These were the most faithful 
and trusty of his followers, and yet to them the Saviour replied: 



174 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

"Take heed that no man deceive you." Not simply the careless 
and sinful ones are in danger of being deceived concerning the sign 
of his coming and of the end of the world. It must ever be 
remembered that these words were spoken for the benefit of 
those who of all people were most constant in prayer and commun- 
ion with God ; and if they were needful for them, how much more 
so for the thoughtless and indifferent. The true knowledge of the 
sign of the coming of the Lord is a matter of the heart, rather than 
of the head and the mind. We may hear it discoursed upon from 
pulpits, we may read arguments upon it in books and papers; but 
the only knowledge of it which will nave power to keep from decep- 
tion in the day of deception is that which is gained alone with Jesus 
in sacred and spiritual communion. 

' ' Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars : see that ye be not 
troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not 
yet." Just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem there was fearful 
political commotion in the world. The Roman empire filled the 
earth, but this gave no peace or security. Men struggled for the 
mastery. Emperor after emperor was slain by the hand of polit- 
ical foes, and all was turmoil, all was confusion. Favorite parasites 
of the throne to-day were galley-slaves to morrow. There will be 
these wars and rumors of wars, said Jesus, but the end of the 
Jewish nation ' ' is not yet. ' 

' ' For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against king- 
dom : and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes 
in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. . . . 
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." 
In the last great conflict for the souls of men which will be waged 
between the powers of light and darkness, there will be many of 
those who have once loved and known the Saviour whose affection 
will not only wane, but will "wax cold." These words have not 
been placed in the Bible to discomfort and discourage the faint- 
hearted, but rather that through them we might gain strength, and 
be prepared for the trial which awaits us. It is in mercy to his 
children that the Master utters them, for in them, if accepted in 
living faith and applied to the soul and life, is power and strength 
to resist spiritual declension. 

" But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved." 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON? 175 

The Redeemer does not say, he that shall live to the end, but he 
that shall endure; and this shows something of the temptation and 
trial which the latter-day Christian will have to withstand. We 
speak about enduring pain, or torture of mind or body, and signify 
thereby that every fiber of our being is brought into play, and put 
to the utmost strain and test in order to cope with that which was 
brought to bear against us. It is even so in the end, the struggle 
will require every nerve and fiber of spiritual strength to wage suc- 
cessful combat. 

' ' And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the 
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." 
Then said the Saviour, ' ' When ye therefore shall see the abomina 
tion of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the 
holy place (whoso readeth let him understand) : then let them which 
be in Judea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the house- 
top not come down to take anything out of his house : neither let 
him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe 
unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those 
days! For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since 
the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." 

The gospel is now being preached to all the world. This is so 
as never before in the history of the world. Missionaries are 
compassing sea and land to herald to those who sit in darkness 
the glad tidings of the cross and crown of Calvary. So manifest 
is this movement that it does not need argument here. But 
said the Saviour, when this has been done, ' £ Then shall the end 
come." 

What is the " abomination of desolation " spoken of by Daniel 
the prophet? It was to stand in the "holy place." The Syriac 
version renders it "the abominable sign of desolation." And Luke 
in the contemporaneous record of this prophecy says : ' ' And when 
ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the 
desolation thereof is nigh." It follows from this that the "abomi- 
nation of desolation" spoken of by Matthew is the army of the 
Romans surrounding Jerusalem, spoken of by Luke. That the 
term " abomination of desolation" used by Matthew fitly describes 
the Roman army, there can be no question. Wherever the army of 
the Romans planted their eagles, there desolation and ruin fol- 



17G THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

lowed. It was everywhere the same. Self-government became a 
thing of the past, and a Roman governor arbitrarily appointed in 
the capital city took its place, while the people mourned beneath 
the heavy load of taxes. In the year a. d. 70 the Roman army did 
invest Jerusalem, and they did stand "in the holy place." The 
armies of the Romans no longer exist. Long since their legions 
and centuries have been laid to molder in the dust. But the prinr 
ciples which were back of the Roman armies still live, and will live 
until the end of the world. The armies themselves, the men 
who formed the legions, were no more abominable or desolating in 
their behavior than the troops of any army. War is inhuman, but 
war by the Romans was no more inhuman than by scores of other 
nations. The Roman rule was a denial of the doctrine that all men 
are created equal, and that governments derive their just powers 
from the consent of the governed. And it is these principles of 
arbitrary government which have always everywhere caused abomi- 
nable desolation, which still live, and which will live till the his- 
tory of this earth in its present form is brought to a close. 

The Lord had set Jerusalem in the earth to be a light to all the 
nations round about. It was the will of God that from the sacred 
citadel at Jerusalem should emanate right principles concerning the 
relations which should exist between man and man, and man and his 
Maker. But Jerusalem apostatized, and left the true faith and love 
of God, so that when the Saviour came, he was denied and rejected, 
instead of being acknowledged and received. Then, and not till 
then, was it given over to the armies of Rome, and the devastating 
principles of Rome. Jerusalem had passed the unseen line of her 
probation, and only desolation and destruction could come. 

Now in this latter day the Lord set the nation of the United 
States for a light in the world, that from and through it there 
should go forth to all the world the right principles of government 
both concerning the relation of the state to the church, and the rela- 
tion of the state to the citizen. As long as the United States held fast 
to these two pi'inciples, Republicanism and Protestantism, — govern- 
ment by the consent of the governed, and no interference by the civil 
magistrate in the things of the church, — as long as the United States 
remained true to these things, she was impregnable in the rocky 
strength of her principles and convictions. But now the principles 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 177 

of Protestantism have been deserted, and the principles of Republi- 
canism are being deserted. The principles of Rome have invested 
the United States, and naught but "the abomination of desolation " 
can possibly follow. 

The territorial expansion of the United States has been pur- 
chased at the cost of the contraction of the principles of the 
United States. The United States is now in the East, not as a 
republic of the East, but as one of the ' ' kings of the East. " But these 
kings of the East are spoken of in the Scriptures. Here is what is 
said by John the revelator : ' ' And the sixth angel poured out his 
vial on the great river Euphrates ; and the water thereof was dried 
up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. And 
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the 
dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of 
the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working mira- 
cles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole 
world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God 
Almighty. Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watch- 
eth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see 
his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in 
the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." 

These kings of the East, then, with all the kings of the earth, 
are to be gathered together to the battle of that great day of God 
Almighty. And that battle is to be in a place called in the Hebrew 
tongue Armageddon. 

Now who are the kings of the East at the present time. Is 
the king of Greece one of them? — Assuredly not, for he is subject 
to the dictum of the great powers in all external affairs of his kingdom. 
Is the sultan of Turkey one of them? — No, for he has been taken in 
charge by the great powers. Are the native princes of India, or 
is the shah of Persia, or the ameer of Afghanistan? — Again the 
answer can only be in the negative. Is the emperor of China? — In 
his case it goes without the saying of it that he is a mere puppet 
in the hands of the great powers of Western Europe. Now to the 
prophecy, that " more sure word," "whereunto ye do well that ye 
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day 
dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." 

In Daniel, the second chapter, compressed in a few short verses 



178 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

is the most wonderful outline history of the nations of earth that 
has ever been written. 

To Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, a dream was given. 
On awakening he could not recall the things which he had seen in 
his dream, and after the wise men of his government had failed to 
tell him what these things were, Daniel, the young Hebrew captive, 
was permitted to make manifest before the king of that great world- 
power the skill and understanding which God had given him, and 
to that great monarch he said : ' ' Thou, King, sawest, and behold 
a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, 
stood before thee ; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's 
head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly 
and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and 
part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without 
hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and 
clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the 
brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and 
became like the chaff of the summer thrashing-floors; and the wind 
carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone 
that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole 
arth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof 
before the king. Thou, king, art a king of kings : for the God 
of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and 
glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of 
the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, 
and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of 
gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, 
and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all 
the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron : foras- 
much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as 
iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, 
and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be 
in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron 
mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of 
iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and 
partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry 
clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON? 179 

shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a 
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall 
not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume 
all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as 
thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without 
hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the 
silver, and the gold ; the great God hath made known to the king 
what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and 
the interpretation thereof sure." 4 

Babylon, the head of gold, was the first of the universal em- 
pires; and when the day of Babylon passed away, Medo-Persia 
occupied her place. For a while Babylon had been true to her trust, 
and had done the work required at her hand by the Lord ; but when 
she neglected this, and turned from it, God took the Medes and the 
Persians and through them brought punishment upon the guilty 
nation. Then the power of Medo-Persia filled the world; but she 
also apostatized from the task assigned her by the Lord, and her 
place and her station was taken by Greece, the kingdom of brass. 
And when the iniquity of the transgressors in Greece was come to 
the full, God took the Romans, and, evil as they were, used them 
to punish Greece. But they, instead of turning to the Lord, only 
increased in their wickedness, until in 476 a. d. the empire of the 
Romans fell into ruins ; and from her ruins and ashes arose the ten 
kingdoms represented by the ten toes of the image, part of iron and 
part of potter's clay, partly strong and partly brittle. Of these, 
three were plucked up by the roots, as brought to view in Daniel 7, 
and the remaining seven stand till the present day as the kingdoms 
of Western Europe. 

It is in the days of these kingdoms that the God of heaven is to 
set up his kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, " but it shall 
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
forever." We are living in the days of these kingdoms, and there- 
fore we are living in the days when the kingdom of the God of 
heaven shall be set up. 

In the vision, when the stone, cut out without hands, struck the 
image, it struck the image on the feet; and the record says that 

* Dan 3 : 31-45. 



180 THE PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

then was v the rest of the body, "the iron, the clay, the brass, the 
silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the 
chaff of the summer thrashing-floors." 

The stone was made to strike the image on the feet. This is 
unnatural. The missile is always aimed at the head, or some vital 
portion of the body. It is aimed at the head, because there is the 
seat of life. This shows, therefore, that, at the end of time, when 
this world is to be brought to an end, the seat of the life of 
the world will be in the feet, that is, in the nations of Western 
Europe. And this is now precisely the case. It is more the 
case to-day than it was one year ago, and it is getting more and 
more so all the time. To-day it is the nations of Western Europe 
which rule the greater part of the earth, and all that portion 
formerly ruled over by Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, to say 
nothing of the territory of Rome, is ruled over by them. The 
nations of Western Europe are the rulers of all the Oriental coun- 
tries, and especially of China. They are in deed and in fact the 
" kin^s of the East." But more than this, it could never be truth- 
fully said that they were the kings of the East until within the last 
year or two. For years England held that China should be kept 
intact, and that the dissolution of the Celestial empire should be 
prevented. But just recently England has agreed with Russia that 
the "spheres of influence" system shall be admitted as the law 
governing the great powers in the case of China, and now all the 
great nations are grabbing every portion of that vast empire that is 
worth having. Into the details of this it is not necessary to go. 
The facts are well known to all, and the boundary lines of to-day 
might be all upset by some fresh move upon the part of one of the 
great powers to-morrow. 

And now, into the East, as one of the "kings of the East," the 
United States has gone. For this nation is not in the Philippines as 
a republic, but as a king. The United States is in the East as 
one of the kings of the East, and with all the others only waiting 
one event, and that event every day threatened, — to be gathered 
together to the great day of the battle of God Almighty, into a 
place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 

The event for which all the nations are waiting before they can be 
gathered together to this great conflict is stated in the Scriptures 






AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 181 

as being the drying up of the waters of the great river Euphrates. 
No one, upon a moment's thought, can entertain the proposition 
that by the term "the great river Euphrates " here used, the literal 
river is intended. In the first place the book of Revelation is a 
book of symbols, for it is " the revelation of Jesus Christ, which 
God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must 
shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel 
unto his servant John." To signify is to make manifest by a sign, 
or symbol. The term "river Euphrates " is therefore only a sign, 
or symbol, of the power occupying or holding possession of the 
territory through which that river runs, and this power is the 
Ottoman, or Turkish, empire. 

For about half a century the great powers of Europe have been 
of the belief that the preservation of the Turkish empire was a 
necessity to the peace of Christendom. So thoroughly is this now 
an established part of the political creed of all nations that it may 
be considered as an axiom in statesmanship. The idea was very clearly 
set forth by Lord Salisbury in his Mansion House speech, Nov. 9, 
1895. He had been discussing the state of affairs in Armenia, at 
that time quite acute, and the possibility of bringing pressure by 
means of persuasion to bear upon the sultan, and in the course of 
his remarks said : — 

' ' But, supposing the sultan will not give these reforms, what is 
to follow? The first answer I should give is that, above all treaties, 
and above all combinations of external powers, ' the nature of 
things, ' if you please, or ' the providence of God, ' if you please to 
put it so, has determined that persistent and constant misgovem- 
ment must lead the government which follows it to its doom ; and 
while I readily admit that it is quite possible for the sultan of 
Turkey, if he will, to govern all his subjects in justice and peace, 
he is not exempt more than any other potentate from the law that 
injustice will bring the highest on earth to ruin. "Well, it is not 
only the necessary action of the law, — of the law of which I have 
spoken, — there is the authority of the great powers. Turkey is 
in that remarkable condition that it has now stood for half a cen- 
tury mainly because the great powers of the world have resolved 
that for the peace of Christendom it is necessary that the Ottoman 
empire should stand. They came to that conclusion nearly half a 



182 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

century ago. I do not think that they have altered it now. The 
danger that if the Ottoman empire should fall, would not merely 
be the danger that would threaten the territories of which that 
empire consists; it would be the danger that the fire there lit 
should spread to other nations, and should involve all that is most 
powerful and civilized in Europe in a dangerous and calamitous con- 
test. That was a danger that was present to the minds of our 
fathers when they resolved to make the integrity and independence 
of the Ottoman empire a matter of European treaty, and that is a 
danger which has not passed away." 

The only thing that has kept the Ottoman empire in place for 
about half a century has been the authority of the powers. Should 
that help be withdrawn, the Turkish empire would be doomed. And 
this is precisely what will be done. This is foretold in the Word of 
God. ' ' And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between 
the seas in the glorious holy mountain ; yet he shall come to his end 
and none shall help him" 5 Then says the prophets, "And at that 
time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the 
children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such 
as never was since there was a nation even to that same time : and 
at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be 
found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to 
shame and everlasting contempt." 

With the removal of the Turkish government from Constanti- 
nople to the glorious holy mountain, — that is, to Jerusalem, — 
there comes the ' < time of trouble such as never was since there was 
a nation, even to that same time." This trouble, then, is national 
trouble. 

We have now seen that it is the nations of Western Europe who 
are the "kings of the East." But it is the nations of Western 
Europe who constitute the feet and toes of the image, which is 
stricken on the feet with the stone cut out of the mountain without 
hands. And it is the " kings of the East " who are to be gathered 
together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, at a place 
called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And it is also the 
"kings of the East" who are only waiting for the reduction of the 

&Dan. 11:45. 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 183 

Turkish power before this last grand move is made; and that the 
wiping out of the Turkish power in Europe may occur at any 
moment is evident to any one who endeavors at all to keep pace 
with the affairs agitating the minds of the statesmen of the great 
powers of the earth. 

Just at present Russia appears to be the nation which is forcing 
things more than any other in the far East. This also is foretold 
in the Scriptures in the book of Ezekiel. There it is written: 
" And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, set 
thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of 
Meshech [Moscow] and Tubal [Tobolsk], and prophesy against him." 

This is the rendering in the King James version. But the Revised 
Version reads, "lam against thee, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, 
and Tubal." From this word Mosh comes the modern name and 
nation of the Russians {Rosh, Hoas, Houss, Huss, Russians). Of 
this power, Russia, the Lord says, "I am against thee." In the 
late aggressive movements of the king of JRosh, is he not already 
beginning to come up from "the north parts " just as the Bible said 
he would? And he is doing it, even although the Lord says, "I 
am against thee." 

The prophet continues : — 

"And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and 
I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses, and horsemen, all 
of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company 
with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, 
Ethiopia, and Libya 6 with them ; all of them with shield and hel- 
met: Goiner, 7 and all his bands; the house of Torgarmah 8 of the 
north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be 
thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou and all thy company 
that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 

< ' After many days thou shalt be visited : in the latter years thou 
shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and 
is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, 

« The term " Libya " formerly applied to the whole northern coast of Africa, from 
the confines of Egypt to the straits of Gibraltar, and southward as far as it was 
known to the Greeks and Romans. 

»The term "Gomer " refers to the modern Crimea, also under the control of the 
king of Rosh, or Russia, the older form of the same was Cimmeria. 

8 Armenia. 



184 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the 
nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend 
and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, 
thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. ... It shall 
be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that 
the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, 
Gog, before their eyes. . . . And it shall come to pass at the same 
time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord 
God, that my fury shall come up in my face. . . . And I will call 
for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the 
Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I 
will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will 
rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that 
are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and 
brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself: and 
I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know 
that I am the Lord." 9 

It is clear from all of this that when the king of Rosh, the em- 
peror of the Russians, comes forth from the "north quarters " with 
all his bands with him, that he comes forth to war, and that that 
war is " against the mountains of Israel." It is also clear that the 
Lord is "against" the emperor of the Russians, and at that time 
and place pleads with him with "great hailstones, fire, and brim- 
stone." And what is this but the battle of Armageddon in which 
all the "kings of the East" and "of the whole world" are in- 
volved ? And where is it but in the land of Palestine, on the 
"mountains of Israel," the place to which the Ottoman empire is 
to go when driven out from Constantinople? 

In the book of the prophet Micah it is written that in ' ' the last 
days " there shall " many nations come, and say, Come, , and let us 
go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of 
Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his 
paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord 
from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and 
rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords 
into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks : nation shall 
not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 

» Ezekiel 38. 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 185 

more. But they skull sit every man under his vine, and under his 
fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the 
Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one 
in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord 
our God forever and ever. " 10 

It will be observed that in this scripture it is not the Lord who 
says all of this, but "many nations." This is precisely what the 
nations are saying at the present time. They are talking of amity, 
but they are preparing for Armageddon. But while many nations 
are talking about beating their swords into plowshares, and their 
spears into pruninghooks, and saying that nation shall not lift up a 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more, — 
while they are saying all this, God delares what they are actually 
doing: — 

"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up 
the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come 
up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into 
spears : let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and 
come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: 
thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, Lord. Let the 
heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for 
there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the 
sickle, for the harvest is ripe : come, get you down ; for the press is 
full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, 
multitudes in the valley of concision [margin] : for the day of the 
Lord is near in the valley of concision. The sun and the moon 
shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The 
Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem ; 
and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be 
the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. 
So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my 
holy mountain: then shall Jerusalen be holy, and there shall no 
strangers pass through her any more. " " 

In the years of the past, when a nation had done evil, and trans- 
gressed the principles which God has laid down for the guidance of 
all nations, he has taken another and purer nation with which to 
visit punishment upon the guilty one. Thus it was that he took the 

10 Micah 4 ; 1-5. u Joel 3 : 9-17. 

13 



186 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

armies of Medo-Persia with which to punish Babylon; thus it was 
that when Medo-Persia became corrupt and departed from the path 
he had marked for her feet, that he took Greece and her armies, 
and through them brought punishment upon the Medes and the 
Persians. And when the "iniquity of the transgressors" was 
"full" in Greece, God took the Romans, and they were an instru- 
ment in his hand to chastise this dissolute people ; and when in their 
turn the Roman nation rejected the ways of the Lord, when the 
figures of their account had reached a certain limit which God had 
fixed, he took the barbarous Germans of the North, unlettered and 
ignorant, but knowing far more of the true principles of govern- 
ment, and with them brought the Roman empire to an end. The 
nations of Western Europe to-day are the descendants of these Ger- 
mans, and from their loins have come forth the people of the new 
nation, of the United States. This nation above them all has been 
the recipient of great light from heaven. But now when the United 
States, the last of them all, has turned from the ways of the Lord, 
there is no nation which God can take to punish her, for every one 
has rejected the counsels of the "King of kings and Lord of lords." 

When the Lord comes to earth again in this latter day, he comes 
not only as the Saviour of the redeemed, but as the judge of the 
nations, to plead with them with fire and sword. He comes with an 
army of angels, and with his army he smites the armies of princes 
of the earth. All of this is plainly set forth in the Scriptures : — 

' ' Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy 
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day 
of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of 
gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning 
spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there 
hath not ever been the like, neither shall be any more after it, even 
to the years of many generations. 

< ' A fire devoureth before them ; and behind them a flame burn- 
etii: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind 
them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as 
horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops 
of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that 
devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 187 

their faces the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather 
blackness. They shall run like mighty men, they shall climb the 
wall like men of tear; and they shall march every one on his ways, and 
they shall not break their ranks; neither shall one thrust another; 
they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the 
sicord, they shall not be icounded. They shall run to and fro in 
the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the 
houses ; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth 
shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the 
moon shall be dark, the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the 
Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very 
great : for he is strong that executeth his word : for the day of the 
Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" 12 

This is a description of the second coming of the Lord ; and when 
the Saviour comes to earth again, he comes as King of kings and 
Lord of lords. He comes with all the angels of heaven with him. 
These are in the form of men of war, who give battle to the princes 
and the potentates of the earth, who, with the nations they rule, 
have rejected the principles of High Heaven, and filled up the cup 
of their iniquity. And when the kings of the East, and of the 
whole world meet in the valley of Jehoshaphat, at Armageddon, they 
meet to settle with the one whose principles they have trampled under 
foot. That Christ comes to punish the nations as such for their 
rebellion against him, is clearly set forth by John the revelator: — 

' ' And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse ; and he 
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteous- 
ness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were a flame of fire, 
and on his head were many crowns ; and he had a name written, 
that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a ves- 
ture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God. 
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white 
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his 
mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations : 
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the 
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he 
hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings 
and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun ; and 

12 Joel 2:1-11. 



188 THE PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst 
of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of 
the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and 
of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and 
bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings 
of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war 
against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the 
beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought mira- 
cles before him, with which he deceived them which had received 
the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These 
both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon 
the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the 
fowls were filled with their flesh." 13 



In the proud parade of nations, — princes, potentates, and 
powers, — which, since the gray dawn of the nineteenth century, 
have with serried ranks, in tramping column and marching file, 
maneuvered and deployed upon the grand plateau of human history, 
one, one only, and one alone, — the United States, has broken out 
her banners to the breezes, and nobly declared her right to a place 
in the galaxy of great world-powers because she stood for a priceless 
principle, eternal as the heavens. All others have stood upon might; 
this one, and this one alone, upon irresistible, impregnable right. 

On the folds of the flag of Columbia have been woven in glitter- 
ing strands, ' ' By the laws of nature and of nature's God, to estab- 
lish justice." Her silver stars have shone forth like ambassadors of 
better things from the blue dome of the goodly land beyond. In 
the breasts of her freemen has burned the sacred flame of ' ' liberty 
for all mankind." This flame has partaken, of the nature of the 
cloven tongues of fire which once rested upon the apostles of our 
Lord. It has gone forth and attracted tens of thousands of the 
oppressed, yet still the best and blest of every nation, kindred, 
tongue, and tribe. 



is Rev. 19:11-21. 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 189 

They have come by the millions. And when, all tired from 
their voyages across the stormy seas, they have touched the sands 
of our shining shores, Columbia, innately good, arising in the 
peaceful purity of her nature to bid them welcome, has with her 
gentle, unmailed hand pointed their weary eyes and longing souls to 
the precious pillars of priceless principle upon which the great 
temple of the nation is upreared. And then the magnetic light 
whose mellow beams had penetrated distance and annihilated space, 
drawing these pilgrims of the night from every clime on earth, has 
flashed forth in power from the pillars, kindling itself in their eyes 
and sitting itself down upon the altar of their hearts. For these 
stones of principle upon which the national fabric rests may be, 
dimly perhaps, but truly, nevertheless, compared to the foundations 
of the New Jerusalem, — " having the glory of God, and her light 
was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone clear 
as crystal." Quickly then have these pilgrims become one with the 
people of the land, and their natures and voices have blended in 
unison with those whose happy lot they have become privileged to 
share. 

Viewed in the gaze of the Old World monarchies, from the 
standpoint of army and navy, the United States has been weak. 
But there is such a thing as the "irresistible might of weakness.'' 
This the United States has possessed in a remarkable degree. True, 
her cities have not been garrisoned, nor have her sons been taken 
from the arts of agriculture to learn the art of arms. In the 
peaceful hours of the morning, as the scions of the soil go to the 
beautiful fields and vineyards, and the daughters of the hearth to 
the duties of domestic life, no sharp sound of the reveille has 
broken upon their ear. The air has not reverberated with the 
thundering of artillery perfecting itself in the dark sciences of 
death. No clash and clank of trotting cavalry have they heard 
upon their highways. There has been no measured tread of infan- 
try upon their country roads. 

By the sea, the fishers of this land have gone down into the 
deep with their nets. On the bosom of the twin oceans their boats 
of commerce have gently rocked. Scarce a steel-clad ship protected 
them. No cruiser bristling with great guns has been necessary to 
make them safe, or to guard the shores from which they came. A 



190 PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

stronger arm than that of sailor or marine with Gatling gun and 
fighting-top has been here to ward away all harm. 

Last summer I visited a ' ' cousin from the motherland across 
the sea." He had come to the great republic to make his home at 
a quiet spot on the banks of the lone Columbia River. His cottage 
stands upon the very brink of the noble stream. I stood by the 
window. On the table beside me lay a London illustrated paper. 
On the open page was a picture of Rudyard Kipling writing his 
greati " Recessional Ode." He sat b} T a desk, his elbow rested upon 
it, his hand supporting his head. Behind him, as it were upon the 
wall, was a great panorama of the British navy. There were the 
cruisers " Powerful " and " Terrible," and the battle-ships " Majes- 
tic" and "Revenge," with a host of half a thousand other craft of 
war. 

But the back of the writer was turned upon these terrible 
engines of destruction. He was rapt in deep meditation. His 
thoughts were far away. Upon the edge of the desk lay a partially 
unfolded scroll upon which in plain letters was penciled the thought 
which occupied Kipling's mind, — "A Fleet in Being." 

A new chord of life and emotion had been touched and awa- 
kened in my soul. I looked at the dark, disdainful, swirling waters 
of the great Columbia. I gazed upon the stern and rocky head- 
lands, which in places looked as if they were about to close upon 
the proud waters, and challenge their right of way. The whole 
scene was symbolic of great power. 

From the river and the headland to the tracings on the scroll my 
mind wandered to and fro, and forth and back again. Over and 
over, like the ever-heaving, swelling billows of old ocean, those 
words kept rising to the surface of my soul, "A fleet in being." 
And as I pondered, my heart gave answer to my thought: yes, there 
is a "fleet in being;" in being not only true, but in being the truth. 
There is a host of power in being, a power immeasurably superior to 
that of soldiers and sailors, of parapet on frowning fort, or turret 
on ship of steel. Blessed an hundredfold is the man who is great 
for what he is above the man who is great only for what he does. 
There have been legions of the latter, but the numbers of the former 
are few. There is wonderful power in being — in being pure, in 
being holy, in being firm as adamant, loyal as lead in the rock, to 
convictions inspired and guided from above. 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 191 

Luther was the all-powerful figure at the Diet of Worms. He 
was all-powerful in the irresistible might of his weakness. All that 
was great and grand on earth was arrayed against him. There he 
stands, garbed in the humble robe of an Augustine monk. Around 
him in that marble hall was a galaxy of princes. They were 
bedecked in gorgeous gowns and resplendent uniforms, and bejew- 
eled with countless orders of royalty. But the lowly habit of the 
friar concealed a breast burning with the power of God, — the power 
of eternal truth. That poor, lone priest had the power of being. 
Those princes had naught but the power of position. This latter, 
though to human vision it may appear great, is so feeble that its 
light is to the power of being like the little flickerings of the glow- 
worm to the effulgence of the sun in the meridian. 

On his way to the hall, Luther had passed the old general, 
George of Freundsberg, who touched his shoulder, and shaking his 
head, blanched in many a battle, kindly said, ' ' Poor monk, poor 
monk, thou art going to make a nobler stand than I or any other 
captain have ever made in the bloodiest of our battles. But if thy 
cause is just, and thou art sure of it, go forward in God's name, and 
fear nothing; God will not forsake thee." 

And Luther did go forward in God's name. Spellbound sat the 
princes through his speech. Its close resembled the grand finale of 
a sacred oratorio. His very form and figure grew majestic. His 
bosom heaved with conscious power ; his eye flashed fire more deadly 
to those who opposed him than the thunderbolts of artillery; while 
his voice swelled in resonant, stentorian tones like the music of the 
great pipe organ in the cathedral at Friberg, and that immortal sen- 
tence was hurled forth as by creative energy, and sent rolling and 
reverberating through that hall of princes: ' ;< Here I stand ; Jean 
do no other; may God help me; amen." 

Ah, there was a power of being in the monk; a power which a 
few brief years later changed the map of Europe, hurled the em- 
peror from his throne, and caused the crowns to topple from the 
heads of tottering princes. Before the power of truth, the power 
of position became " as the waters that pass away." 

And it is the power of being, the power begotten by the posses- 
sion and living out of truth, wonderful truth, that has caused the 
name of the Republic of the United States to be reverenced and 



192 PERIL OP THE REPUBLIC. 

revered through all the earth. Hitherto the United States has stood 
like a rock for the truth, aud her very being has been the truth. 
Her very being has been impregnated with the thoughts of liberty 
and equal rights to all mankind. Hitherto she has set to herself 
the bounds and metes of right. And when vaunting ambition in 
the breasts of her sons would strive to break bej'ond these natural 
barriers, her voice has been heard in the words of a Greater One, 
saying to their ambition, "Hitherto [as far as the line of right] 
shalt thou come but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be 
stayed." 

The ember hours of the nineteenth century are here. The gloam- 
ing time of this cycle of a hundred years is upon us. Shall the ship 
of state be held upon the course which God through the Fathers set 
for her, or shall the brilliant star of her peace and power be allowed 
to be diverted, be made to grow dim, and to lose its heavenly luster? 

That a dark time of trouble is before this land and before the 
world, and is swiftly closing in upon the sons and daughters of men, 
is evident to many of different faiths both spiritual and secular. 
We hear the mutterings of the storm, the distant roar of the angry 
billows of strife in things religious and civil. The tempest will 
surely break, but let it be our holy glory, our sacred joy, that, 
although we may be broken by it, we shall never bend before it. 
Infinitely happier is the man who is defeated in a good cause than 
the man who is victorious in a bad one. 

But the tempest produced by transgression in things individual 
and things national will not last forever; it can not last for long. 
Sin and transgression are terrible things; but they carry in their 
breasts a poison which not only destroys all that it touches, but 
ultimately breeds destruction to themselves. In sin and wickedness 
Providence has fixed an evolution unto death. 

After the night there will come the glorious dawning of the bet- 
ter morn. It will be for the good and the pure. We may differ as 
to how it will come, but that it will come, we all believe. Soon will 
be heard great voices in heaven, saying, ' ' The kingdoms of this 
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and 
he shall reign forever and ever." 

The citizens of that blest kingdom will be those who have known 
the power of being, — of being true as steel to priceless principle of 



AMITY OR ARMAGEDDON ? 193 

right in things national as well as in things personal. For the king- 
dom of God itself is founded upon the principle of right, founded 
upon the consent of the governed, and the voices of the redeemed 
will whisper gently among the amaranthine flowers, saying, ' « Thou 
art worthy, Lord, to receive glory and honor and power." 

Therefore let us work for right principles while it is day, for 
the night cometh when no man can work. Let us gird up the loins 
of our minds, and be sober, and hope to the end for the grace 
which is to be brought unto us at the coming of Jesus Christ. 



APPENDIX. 



THE UNITED STATES AND SLAVERY IN THE SULUS. 

After the pages of this boos were all in type and for the most 
part plated, another incident occurred in the policy of abandoning 
the Constitution of the United States. It constitutes a radical 
departure from principles in behalf of which every day of the years 
1861 to the spring of 1865 was steeped in the blood of the noblest 
sons of the Northern States. Therefore I have considered it of 
sufficient importance to append here. 

The Sulu Archipelago is the most southerly group of the Philip- 
pines. The inhabitants number about 110,000. They are "Mo- 
hammedan by religion and more or less pirates by instinct." 
They, and the sultan who rules over them, practise concubinage 
and polygamy. Slavery is an established institutioa among them. 

According to President Jacob G. Schurman, of Cornell Univer- 
sity, and United States commissioner to the Philippines, this slavery 
is " not the cruel inhuman slavery, but beneficent in form." Some 
time ago the president of the United States announced that the 
policy of this government toward the Filipinos was one of "benefi- 
cent assimilation." This " beneficent assimilation" policy has been 
pushed forward by powder and projectile ever since it was first pro- 
mulgated. Now it has become so exceedingly beneficent and assimi- 
lative in character that it has assimilated into the body politic of 
the United States of America and Asia the beneficent poisons of 
concubinage, polygamy, and slavery. And as seemingly these 
were too good to be garnered by gunboats and Gatling guns like 
everything else in the Philippines, they were purchased with Mexi- 
can dollars. 

Recently a treaty, or treaty-like arrangement, has been effected 
by General Bates in behalf of the United States with the sultan of 
Sulu. According to the agreement this government pays to the sultan 
of Sulu a cash bonus of ten thousand Mexican dollars, and in addi- 
tion to this he is to get an annual subsidy of four thousand dollars. 
The sultan, on his side, agrees that in consideration of the payment 

[194] 



APPENDIX. 195 

of the sums aforesaid he and his people will be subject to the power 
and jurisdiction of the United States. This was a cheaper way of 
securing recognition of the undisputed sovereignty of the United 
States than by their "benevolent assimilation" through bayonet 
and bullet. 

As a part of the bargain the United States agrees not to disturb 
the domestic institutions of the sultan and people of the Sulus; viz., 
concubinage, polygamy, and slavery. In other words, the United 
States has agreed to recognize polygamy in the Sulu Islands, and to 
pay four thousand dollars per annum to the polygamous ruler there 
for the glory of exercising sovereignty over them. 

At the present time there are many petitions being circulated by 
the churches in this country requesting Congress to expel Congress- 
man-elect Roberts, of Utah, because, as alleged, he is a polygamist. 
Will these churches plead with the Senate of the United States not 
to approve this treaty, or bargain, which recognizes polygamy in the 
Sulu jurisdiction of the United States? Will they petition Congress 
not to appropriate the four thousand dollars which the administra- 
tion has agreed to pay to the order of the Sulu polygamist? "If 
they do, what will become of their boasted loyalty to the govern- 
ment? If they do not, what will become of their consistency? " 
This is a serious phase of the incident; but there is still another 
phase of it which is much more serious. 

The United States has agreed not to disturb the institution of 
slavery in her Sulu jurisdiction. Now what shall be done with the 
thirteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 
which declares that ' ' neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any 
place subject to their jurisdiction 1 '? 

It follows from this that when the administration agreed not to 
disturb slavery in the Sulu Islands, the same being part of the 
Philippines and consequently under the jurisdiction of the United 
States, it agreed both in principle and in practise that it would 
openly violate and publicly disregard the Constitution of these 
United States. Possibly the administration is proceeding upon the 
plan hinted at and proposed last winter, that the Philippines and 
other islands be ruled without tl\» Constitution! But to do this is 



196 



APPENDIX. 



only to trample upon and abandon the Constitution which by and 
according to the very wording of the instrument itself, extends to 
all places within the jurisdiction of the United States. 

Since the Declaration of Independence is repudiated, accounted 
as a "nursery rime" only fit to "hamper the greatest nation of 
earth;" and since the Constitution is abandoned, and this by the 
very government of the United States itself, — since all this is so, 
it may be pertinent to inquire, how much of the original government 
of the United States remains? 

And further, in view of the revived discussion of the "race 
problem," since slavery is an undisturbed institution in one corner 
of the territory under the jurisdiction of the United States, what 
assurance is there that slavery will not be established, yea, and 
re-established, in other places " subject to their jurisdiction "? Will 
the sun upon the dial of the nation's day be set back where it stood 
before the mighty conflict of '61 ? With sadness we turn from the 
contemplation of this checkered spectacle of a great nation whose 
beginnings were in so much glory, but whose latter day must be in 
so much shame. 



The 
Missionary Publications 



of the 



Fleming H. Revell 
Company 

Classified and Illustrated 



Sent postpaid to any address on receipt 
of advertised prices 



LATEST ISSUES. 



The Redemption of Africa. By Frederic Perry Noble. 
A Story of Civilization. With illustrations, maps, 
statistical tables and bibliography. 2 vols., 8vo, 
cloth, $4.00. 

This work, by the Secretary of the Chicago African Con- 
gress of 1893, is a history of African Missions of the 
Catholic and Protestant Churches, including- all denomina- 
tions of the latter. It includes work for the negro in the 
Western Hemisphere as well as on the Dark Continent. 
Space is given to the history of Islam in Africa, as well as 
to native religions. In sections one gets a clear idea of 
the great workers who have set their stamp on Africa. No 
snch comprehensive work on African Missions has ever 
before been attempted. Of the author, The Independent 
says, in its African number, May 5, 1898, that he is "prob- 
ably better qualified than any other man" to write on 
this subject. 

Korean Sketches. By Rev. James S. Gale. A Mission- 
ary's Observations in the Hermit Nation. Fully 
illustrated. l2mo, cloth, #1.00. 

"He writes easily and picturesquely of the peoples and 
their customs; of exciting and amusing travel adven- 
tures; and of the possibilities of manufactures, com- 
merce, agriculture, education and religion in Korea. His 
book is thoroughly readable. As a clear presentation of 
native life it is the best extant book on Korea."— Outlook. 

Every-Day Life in Korea. By Rev. Daniel L. Gifford, 
eight years a missionary in Korea. A collection of 
studies and stories. Illustrated. l2mo, cloth, $1.25. 

The author has had in mind a number of classes of 
readers in the preparation of this book; among others, 
business men, fond of facts in a compact form; ladies in 
the missionary societies, ever alert to add to their fund of 
missionary information, and another class still, found in 
the yonng people's societies, who enjoy information pre- 
sented in a pictorial or narrative form. 

Missions and Politics in Asia. By Robert E. Speer. 
Studies of the spirit of the Eastern peoples, the pres- 
ent making of history in Asia, and the part therein 
of Christian Missions. Student's Lectures on Mis- 
sions, Princeton, 1898. l2mo, cloth, $1.00. 

The lectures composing this volume were suggested by 
the study and observation of an extended tour in Asia, in 
the years 1896 and 1897. They are at once the fruit and 
the ground of the conviction, vindicated by the obvious 
facts of history and of life, that Christ is the present 
Lord and King of all life and history and their certain 
ultimate goal. 



Latest Issues — Continued. 

Our Indian Sisters. By Rev. E. Storrow. Illustrated. 
l2mo, cloth, $1.25. 

Mr. Storrow, the veteran Indian missionary, brings to- 
g-ether in this volume a great mass of information about 
the degradation and the sufferings of Indian women. 

Fairy Tales from Far Japan. Translated by Miss Bal- 
lard. With Prefatory Note by Mrs. Isabella L. Bird 
Bishop. Small 4to, cloth, 75 cents. 
Miss Ballard has translated some of the most famous of 
the Japanese nursery tales, and Mrs. Bishop's preface is 
a testimony at once to the accuracy and to the importance 
of her work. The illustrations are all from Japanese 
originals. 

The Transformation of Hawaii: How American Mis- 
sionaries Gave a Christian Nation to the World. 
Told for Young People by Belle M. Brain, author 
of "Fuel for Missionary Fires." 12mo, cloth, illus- 
trated, $1.00. 

In Afric's Forest and Jungle. By Rev. R. H. Stone. 
Illustrated. 12mo, cloth, $1.00. 

It is an unusually bright series of sketches by a mission- 
ary who resided for several years in a large native village 
in West Africa. 

Missionary Expansion Since the Reformation. By 
Rev. J. A. Graham, M.A. With 8 colored maps 
and 145 illustrations. l2mo, cloth, $1.00. 

A brief, general view of principles, history and present 
position of the Missions of the Evangelical Churches. It 
is the result of wide reading and the most careful in- 
vestigation. There are 145 well-made illustrations, in- 
cluding a very large number of portraits, and eight 
colored maps, the latter a particularly valuable feature 
in a work of this nature. 

A Life for Africa. A Biography of the Rev. Adolphus 
C. Good, Ph.D., American Missionary in Equatorial 
West Africa. By Ellen C. Parsons, M.A., editor of 
"Woman's Work for Women." Illustrated. l2mo, 
cloth, #1.25. 

"Like many other missionaries, he accomplished much of 
value in one or two departments of science, and an ap- 
pendix to the work contains an account of his scientific 
labors by W. J. Holland, and a paper on the superstitions 
of the equatorial Africans, from his own pen. Such a 
book, wherever it goes, is a stimulus to missionary zeal, 
and is a work of real interest in itself."— The Congreea- 
twnalist. * * 



Latest Issues — Continued. 

The Preparation for Christianity in the Ancient World. 
By R. M. Wenley, Sc.D. (Edm.), etc., Professor in the 
University of Michigan. l2mo, cloth, 75 cents. 

"Man's unaided efforts to raise himself into communion 
with God, and their failure, leading at length to un- 
paralleled moral obliquity and spiritual insolvency, can- 
not but afford fresh insiffht into the predestined deficiency 
of similar attempts at any time." — From the Preface. 

Apostolic and Modern Missions. By Rev. Chalmers 
Martin, A.M. 12mo, cloth, #1.00. 

The author, formerly a missionary to Siam, was invited 
to deliver the 1895 course of Students' Lectures on Mis- 
sions before the students of Princeton Theological Sem- 
inary, in which institution he is an instructor. Repeated 
requests from the Faculty and students have resulted in 
the publication of the lectures in this permanent form. 

Christianity and the Progress of Man. A Study of Con- 
temporary Evolution in connection with the work of 
Modern Missions. By Prof. W. Douglas Mackenzie. 
12mo, cloth, gilt top, $1.25. 

"The book shows evidence of a thorough acquaintance 
with the literature of missions, and with the history of 
the progress of Christianity. It is another valuable ad- 
dition to the missionary library, and is worthy of careful 
study."— The Church at Home and Abroad. 

Missionary Methods for Missionary Committees. A 
Manual for Y. P. S. C. E., B. Y. P. U., and other 
young people's societies. With Diagrams and charts 
by David Park. l6mo, cloth, net, 25 cents. 



The Young Folks' Missionary. Published monthly. 
Ten copies or over to one address, 10 cents per 
copy per annum. Single subscriptions, 25 cents per 
year. 

This is a new missionary paper which we are now issuing, 
very well adapted to all classes and ages of missionary 
workers, but especially suited to Woman's and Juvenile 
Missionary Societies, Young People's Societies and Sun- 
day Schools. Designed to develop and foster among all 
our young people a greater zeal and intelligence in mis- 
sionary work. It is on fine paper and beautifully illus- 
trated, presenting vivid conceptions of parts of the 
world and phases of missionary work not usually pre- 
sented in other papers. The paper is fully illustrated 
with half-tone and other cu.s'and is most attractively 
presented. Sample copies free. 



GENERAL. 




A Concise History of Mis- 
sions. 

By Rev. Edwin Munsell Bliss, 
D.D. i6mo, cloth, 75 cents. 

In three parts. I. General History ; 
II. Development of the Field; III. Or- 
ganization and Methods of Mission 
Work; IV. Appendix. 

"The Rev. Dr. Edwin M. Bliss is 
probably more closely acquainted with 
the general subject of mission work than 
any one else in this country. His expe- 
rience as the compiler of the well-known 
reference book, 'An Encyclopaedia of 
Missions,' and his work as editor and 
writer of special articles, have put him in possession of a store of 
useful knowledge on this subject. His 'A Concise History of 
Missions' is admirably planned and arranged. Its historical sur- 
vey of the actual field is comprehensive ; its reasoning is just ; and 
its tone is inspiring and hopeful."— The Outlook. 

Christianity and the Progress of Man. 

Contemporary Evolution as illustrated by the Work of 
Modern Missions. By Prof. W. Douglas Mackenzie. 
i2mo, cloth, $1.25. 

A study of social progress among heathen peoples under the 
influence of Christian men and Christian principles. 

Christian Missions and Social Progress. 

A Sociological Study of Foreign Missions. By Rev. James 
S. Dennis, D.D., Student's Lecturer on Missions, Prince- 
ton, 1893 ar >d 1896. With 64 Illustrations from Photo- 
graphs. 2 vols., 8vo, cloth, gilt tops, each, $2.50. (Vol. 
I. ready.) 
"An epoch-making book lies before us, . . . one of the riches', 
contributions ever made to the literature of Christian Missions. 
The educational value of this book to ministers, theological stu- 
dents and laymen, can hardly be overstated. The bibliography 
appearing in connection with each lecture is beyond praise." — 
President Hail in The Expositor. 

Foreign Missions After a Century. 

By Rev. James S. Dennis, D.D. Fourth edition. 8vo, 
cloth, $1.50. 
" This book deserves to be ranked among the best of its class 
for the missionary information it gives and the missionary interest 
it excites. It is a trumpet-toned book."— 'The Evangelist. 

" A broad, philosophical and systematic view of the missionary 
work in its relation to the living Church."— The Independent. 



AFRICA. 




The Personal Life of David Livingstone. 

Chiefly from his unpublished jour- 
nals and correspondence in the 
possession of his family. By W. 
Garden Blaikie, D.D., LL.D. 
With portrait and map. New, 
cheap edition. 508 pages, 8vo. 
cloth, $1.50. 

" There is throughout the narrative 
that glow of interest which is realized 
while events are comparatively recent, 
with that also which is still fresh and 
tender."— The Standard 

David Livingstone. 

His Labors and His Legacy. By A. Montefiore, F.R.G.S. 
Illustrated. 160 pages, i2mo, cloth, 75c. 
A volume of the very popular Missionary Biography Series 
giving the great events of a great life. 

David Livingstone. 

By Mrs. J. H. Worcester, Jr., Missionary Annals Series. 
i2mo, paper, net, 15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c. 

Livingstone Anecdotes. 

By Dr. Macaulay. With portrait. i8mo, cloth, 25 c. 

Reality vs. Romance in South Central 
Africa. 

Being an Account of a Journey across the African Conti- 
nent, from Benguella on the West Coast to the mouth of 
the Zambesi. By James Johnston, M.D. With 51 full-page 
photogravure reproductions of photographs by the author, 
and a map. Royal 8vo, cloth, boxed, $4.00. 
" The merits of this volume are incontestable. There is no 
effort made to be grandiloquent, or to present things other than as 
they are. If the possibilities of civilizing Africa seem relegated to 
the far future, that is not Dr. Johnston's fault. The photogravures 
he prints are as novel as they are excellent."— The New York Times, 

Among the Matabele. 

By Rev. D. Carnegie, for ten years resident at Hope Foun- 
tain, twelve miles from Bulawayo. With portraits, maps 
and other illustrations. Second edition. 1 2mo, cloth, 60 c. 
" It is almost impossible for a dweller in civilization to under- 
stand what heathenism is, but this book makes the picture more 
vivid than any volume we have read."— The Golden Rule 



AFRICA. 



The Story of Uganda 

And of the Victoria Nyanza Mission. By S. G. Stock. 
Illustrated. i2mo, cloth, $1.25. 

"To be commended as a good, brief, general survey of the 
Protestant missionary work in Uganda."— The Literary World. 

Peril and Adventure in Central Africa. 

Illustrated Letter to the Youngsters at Home. By Bishop 
Hammington. Illustrated. i2mo, cloth, 50 c. 

Robert Moffat, 

The Missionary Hero of Kuruman. 
By David J. Deane. Missionary 
Biography Series. Illustrated. 

25 th thousand, i2mo, cloth, 75 c. 

Robert Moffat. 

By M. L. Wilder. Missionary An- 
nals Series. i2mo, paper, net, 
15c; flexible cloth, net, 30 c. 

Rivers of Water. 

The Story of Robert Moffat. Illus- 
trated. i2ino, cloth, $1.00. 

The Congo for Christ. 

The Story of the Congo Mission. By Rev. John B. Myers. 
Missionary Biography Series. Illustrated. Tenth thousand 
i2rno, cloth, 75 c. 
"Of unique interest and suggestiveness." — The Missionary 
Review of the World. 

Life on the Congo. 

By Rev. W. Holman Bentley. 1:1110, cloth, 60 c. 

South Africa. 

Country, Peoples, European Colonization, Christian Mis- 
sions. By Rev. James Sibree, F.R.G.S. i6mo, paper, 20c. 

On the Congo. 

Edited from Notes and Conversations of Missionaries, by 
Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness, umo, paper, 50 c. 

Thomas J. Comber, 

Missionary Pioneer to the Congo. By Rev. John B. 
Myers. Missionary Biography Series. Illustrated. Tbir* 
tecnth thousand. i2mo, cloth, 75 c. 




AMERICA. 




On the Indian Trail, 

And Other Stories of Missionary 
Work among the Cree and Saul- 
teaux Indians. By Egerton R. 
Young. Illustrated by J. E. Laugh- 
lin. i2mo, cloth, $1.00. 

Mr. Young is well known to readers of 
all ages as the author of " By Canoe and 
Dog Train," "Three Boys in the Wild 
North Land," and other very popular 
books describing life and adventure in the 
great Northwest. The stories in this new 
book tell of some very exciting incidents 
in his career, and describe phases of life 
among the American Indians which are 
fast becoming things of the past. 

Forty-two Years among the Indians and 
Eskimos. 

Pictures from the Life of the Rt. Rev. John Horden, first 
Bishop of Moosonee. By Beatrice Batty. Illustrated. 
i2mo, cloth, $1.00. 

Vikings of To-Day ; 

Or, Life and Medical Work among the Fishermen of 
Labrador. By Wilfred T. Grenfel, M.D., of the Deep 
Sea Mission. Illustrated from Original Photographs. 
Second edition. 121110, cloth, $1.25. 

" The author has been in charge of the work since its inception, 
and writes, accordingly, with special authority and wealth of detail, 
both as to the methods of work and as to the people— the fearless, 
patient Vikings— to whom he has dedicated his life."— The Ex- 



Amid Greenland Snows; 

Or, The Early History of Arctic Missions. By Jesse Page. 
Missionary Biography Series. Illustrated. Tenth thous- 
and. i2mo, cloth, 75c. 
"This is an interesting history of Arctic missions, and espe- 
cially ol the remarkable labors of Hans Egede."— Christian Work. 

Kin-da-Shon's Wife. 

An Alaskan Story. By Mrs. Eugene S. Willard. Illus- 
trated. Third edition. 8vo, cloth, $1.50. 
" From beginning to end the book holds the attention. Mrs. 

Willard has shown herself peculiarly well qualified to write such a 

book." — Public Opinion. 



AMERICA. 



David Brainerd, 

The Apostle to the North American Indians. By Jesse 
Page. Missionary Biography Series. Illustrated. Twelfth 
thousand. i:mo, cloth, 75c. 

" No romance can equal the story of his life. We have it here 
in admirable form, and it will thrill every one who reads these 
pages."— Christian Work. 

South America, the Neglected Continent. 

By Lucy E. Guinness and E. C. Millard. With a Map 
in colors and many other Illustrations. Small 4to, paper, 
50c. ; cloth, 75c. 

An account of the mission tour of the Rev. G. C. Grubb, M.A., 
and party, in 1893, 'with a historical sketch and summary of mission- 
ary enterprise in South America. 

The West Indies. 

By Mrs. E. R, Pitman. Outline Missionary Series. i6mo, 
paper, 20c. 

PERSIA. 



Persian Life and Cus- r 




toms. 

With Incidents of Residence and 

Travel in the Land of the Lion 

and the Sun. By Rev. S. G. 

Wilson, M.A., for 15 years a 

missionary in Persia. With Map, 

and other Illustrations, and In- 
dex. Second edition, reduced 

in price. 8vo, cloth, $1.25. 
"This is not merely a book of 
travel, but of long observation, in Per- 
sia. The author has studied with much 
care the condition of Persia and its fu- 
ture possibilities."— The N. Y. Tribune. 

Justin Perkins, 

Pioneer Missionary to Persia. By his son, Rev. H. M. 
Perkins. Missionary Annals Series. i2mo, paper, net, 
1 5c. ; flexible cloth, net, 30c. 

Woman and the Gospel in Persia. 

By Rev. Thomas- Laurie, D.D. Missionary Annals Series. 
i2mo, paper net, 15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c. 




INDIA. 

William Carey. 

The Shoemaker who became "the 
Father and Founder of Foreign 
Missions." By Rev. John B. Myers. 
Missionary Biography Series. Illus- 
trated. Twenty-second thousand. 
i2mo, cloth, 75c. 

William Carey. 

By Mary E. Farwell. Missionary 
Annals Series. i2mo, paper, net, 
15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c. 

Alexander Duff. 

By Elizabeth B. Vermilye. Missionary Annals Series 
i2mo, paper, net, 15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c. 

Reginald Heber, 

Bishop of Calcutta, Scholar and Evangelist. By Arthur 
Montefiore. Missionary Biography Series. Illustrated 
i2mo, cloth, 75c. 

" The author has done his work well, and has given us a very 
interesting sketch of the man and his mission as country parson 
traveler, writer, and missionary."— Public Opinion. 

Heavenly Pearls Set in a Life. 

A Record of Experiences and Labors in America, India 
and Australia. By Mrs. Lucy D. Osborn. Illustrated.' 
i2mo, cloth, $1.50. 

Indian Gems for the Master's Crown. 

By Miss Droese, of Landour, India. Illustrated i-rno 
cloth, 80c. 

"To require every book about missions to be as readable as 
this, would be too much to ask." — The Church. Standard. 

India. 

By Rev. E. Storrow. Outline Missionary Series. lomo 
paper, 2 parts, each 20c. 

„. f a . rt I- — Country, People, History, Manners and Customs, 
Hinduism. Part II.— History of Christianity, Obstacles and Hin- 
drances, Forms of Labor, Results. 

Indian Zenana Missions : 

Their Need, Origin, Objects, Modes of Working, and 
Results. By Mrs. E. R. Pitman Outline Missionary 
Series. i6mo, paper, 20c. 



INDIA. 




In the Tiger Jungle, 

And Other Stories of Missionary 

Work among the Telugus. By 

Rev. Jacob Chamberlain, M.D., 

D. D. , for 37 years a Missionary in 

India. Illustrated. i2mo, cloth, 

$1.00. 
" If this is the kind of missionary 
who mans the foreign stations, they will 
never fail for lack of enterprise. . . . 
The book is withal a vivid and serious 
portrayal of the mission work, and as 
such leaves a deep impression on the 
reader." — The Independent. 

"The doctor writes in a fascinating 
style, and in so realistic and vivid a 
manner as to make the countries des- 
cribed and the stirring adventures through which he passed live 
again upon the printed page, while the whole book glows with an 
intense and pure missionary fervor." — Christian Work. 

The Child of the Ganges. 

A Tale of the Judson Mission. By Prof. R. N. Barrett, 
D.D. Illustrated. i2mo, cloth, $i.2s. 

" With a story of ' Seekers after God ' in Burmah is interwoven 
that of the consecrated missionaries Adoniram and Ann Judson, a 
story familiar to us from childhood, yet never to lose its interest." 
— The A 7 . V. Observer. 

Adoniram Judson. 

By Julia H. Johnston. Missionary Annals Series. i2mo, 
paper, net, 15c; flexible cloth, net, 30c. 

Once Hindu, now Christian. 

The Early Life of Baba Padmanji. An Autobiography, 
translated. Edited by J. Murray Mitchell, M. A. i6mo, 
cloth, 75c. 
" A more instructive or more interesting narrative of a human 

soul gradually emerging into the light, does not often come to 

hand." — The Missionary Herald. 

Bombay Conference Report. 

Report of the Third Decennial Missionary Conference, held 
at Bombay, 1892-93. 878 pages. 2 volumes, 8vo, cloth, 
net, $4.00. 

The Gospel in Southern India; 

Or, The Religious Life, Experience, and Character of the 
Hindu Christians. By Rev. Samuel Mateer, F.L.S. Illus- 
trated. i2mo, cloth, $1.40. 






■ 



■ 






■■'../: 





















